Moments
by A dragon's crystal
Summary: Naruto left Konoha to train with Jiraiya again. During that times, something happened to him even with the Sannin’s supervision. Distant and aloof, will Orochimaru’s Golden Boy, Sasuke, be the one to save him from his inner darkness? [SasuNaru, ItaNaru]
1. Prologue

**Crystal:** Konnichiwa minna-san! This is my first actual multi-chaptered Naruto fic (Cravings doesn't count!) and there are things you need to know first:

One: This happened **after** the first two and a half years Naruto and Jiraiya left Konoha  
Two: There might or not be any spoilers and whatnot, but expect the unexpected, ne? And I'm sort of behind the manga so... -coughs- Or either that I might makeit a semi-AU... what do you think?  
Three: There will be **M-Preg**. So, if it makes you uncomfortable then please be civilized and leave.Since I'm stressed out a lot, I don't need any more weirded out comments to increase the gigantic migraine on my head.  
Four: Please enjoy the first instalment of Moments and have fun reading! -smiles-  
And Five: Thank you, **ChibiNekoSakura**, for being my beta for the whole fic! -bows- I appreciate it every much!

**Warnings:** Yaoi and M-Preg in later chapters, and possible sexual contents as well. _You have been warned!_

**Disclaimer:** I do not own Naruto but merely using them to my own sadistic pleasures...

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**Moments**

_Prologue: You've Changed_

'_Oh, my back's aching so bad…_' she thought as she walked out of the Hokage tower, stretching her arms back. Inserting a strand of hair behind her ear, she looked at the sun setting over the Hokage Mountain. Had she been working that long? She only thought a couple of hours had passed. '_I am never, ever, EVER going to volunteer to help Shizune-san and Godaime-sama again!_' she continued ranting off inwardly, despite the fact that she would have to help again tomorrow. There was just too much paperwork to be done.

She sighed. '_Oh well… there's nothing to do much anyway…_' The female kunoichi kept walking down the streets, saying hello to the passers-by when they greeted her politely. When she passed by the ramen stand, a soft, sad smile appeared on her lips. She missed the loud voice of one of her dearest friends. The one-million-watt smile that could make a hellish day for someone turn into a happy one.

"Naruto…" she murmured slightly and walked away from the stand. Three years. It had been three years since he left with one of the Legendary Sannin, Jiraiya, to train somewhere outside Konoha. During those three years, she had grown… everybody had grown. She was positive that her blond friend too had done some growing - specifically towards height.

"_Don't worry, Sakura-chan! I'll keep my promise… I'll bring Sasuke-teme back here even if I have to drag him by his ass!"_ She remembered hearing when he tried to get Sasuke back the first time. He promised to her…

But… what if, it had all been in vain?

'_I'm sorry Naruto…_' she thought, as she entered the flower shop the mother of her best friend owns when she saw her friends hanging out there. '_But I've given up on Sasuke-kun now…_'

"Sakura-san!"

Sakura gave a huge grin and let herself be hugged by her boyfriend. "Hello, everyone! Sorry I'm late…" she trailed off and then looked at the person who was holding her. "And hello Lee-kun," she kissed him on the cheek.

Ino pretended to gag at the lovey-dovey scene when she came out of the doorway, carrying a vase full of flowers. She too had given up on Sasuke, and now she was dating Shikamaru, out of all people - both of them are still wondering why they chose each other after two years of dating. "Could you not please make-out in front of the customers that are buying here? You're scaring them away, Forehead-Girl," she said good-naturedly.

The pink-haired girl laughed and stuck her tongue out childishly. "I don't see anybody here but the rest of our friends, Ino-pig."

"Pfft, look again, Haruno."

With her green eyes, she saw Kiba doting on the still shy Hinata by giving lots of flowers with him telling the blonde kunoichi every now and then to put it on his tab - even though it was nonexistent. Out of everybody in the group, Hinata had changed the most. Sure she was still shy from time to time, but she no longer stuttered or blushed furiously anymore. And like Sakura and Ino, Hinata had moved on from her first love-interest.

She shook her head at the scene and then realized that three people were missing. "Where are Shino-kun, Chouji-kun, and Neji-san?" she asked Lee.

The black-haired youth shrugged his shoulders and gave an apologetic smile. "Gomen nasai, Sakura-san. But, I don't know where they are at the moment."

Sakura raised her eyebrow and shook her head exasperatingly. Ever since they started dating, Lee was still calling her 'Sakura-san' and he seemed too modest. Once she had asked him why does he keep on being so formal, but he only smiled and said, "Because you deserve to be treated with utmost respect, Sakura-san." Needless to say, she was very touched, but it would be nice if he could at least call her 'Sakura-chan' once in a while.

TenTen came out of the same doorway where Ino exited a few moments ago, also carrying a vase full of flowers. "Neji and the rest of them are by the Konoha gates. It's their turn patrolling," she greeted Sakura with a smile as she helped Ino rearrange the flowers carefully. She has taken quite a like to arranging flowers, and often right when she was not spending time training or when she was with Neji, she would often come by the Flower Shop and help the blonde kunoichi. To this very day, it was still mystery to her as to why she started liking the art of flower arranging.

Haruno closed her eyes and gave half a smile. Three long years… so many things have been happening. She wished _they_ had experienced these changes like she had. "Do you guys want to get something to eat now? I'm getting quite famished," she said, blushing slightly when she heard her stomach growl quietly.

Kiba stopped making his girlfriend blush and gave a huge canine grin. "FINALLY, somebody mentions the word food! Akamaru and I have been waiting for someone to suggest we start eating." Right beside him, a dog barked loudly in agreement.

"Che, troublesome," Shikamaru finally muttered, yawning slightly, waking up from his nap. "Oii, woman, are you almost done with that stupid flower arranging?" he drawled out, earning a glare from Ino.

"Shika, unless you want a stupid flower sprouting out of your nose, just be _quiet_. TenTen-chan and I are almost done over here," she hissed whilst waving a daisy menacingly.

Everybody laughed at the weird flirty ways of the couple as the sun lowered a bit more to end a very normal day - as normal as it can get - in Konohagakure.

--

Hyuuga Neji gave an involuntary yawn as he kept watch over the gates of the Fire Country. He did not really know why he would waste his time watching over the stupid gate when he could very well be training. He looked over his colleagues and friends: Aburame Shino and Akimichi Chouji were sitting. The former was as quiet as always, with his arms crossed over his chest. The latter was eating yet another bag of barbeque flavoured potato chips, eating it slowly as he savoured his precious food.

The oldest of the three sighed and blinked his bored eyes. Only one more hour until their shift is over so he could rest and get ready for the upcoming mission he was going to in three days. The Hokage had offered him a week off, but he politely refused, saying that instead of having a week off now, he would just take it after he finished with this mission so he could spend time with TenTen for their anniversary.

Suddenly out of nowhere he could feel two chakra signatures. One was not really familiar to him, but the other… he could almost recognize the chakra, although it was a bit different in some way but it was still familiar…

Could it be?

"Hyuuga, can you feel that?" Clear eyes looked over to the bug user and nodded.

"Chouji, alert the Godaime-sama. Tell her we have visitors…"

Seeing the solemn expression on Neji's face - despite the fact that Neji's face was always serious - Chouji gave an affirmative nod and quickly did some hand seals, transporting quickly to the Hokage Tower. After he left, Neji looked over at the entrance and activated his bloodline limit.

"Byakugan!"

Looking through the horizon, he gave a small, almost nonexistent smile at the two figures walking down the path. '_Just as I suspected… He's returned._'

Meanwhile, barging into the Hokage's office, Chouji stammered as he tried to catch his breath - instead of teleporting straight inside Tsunade's office, he appeared right in front of the tower instead. Tsunade frowned when she saw one of her subordinates gasping for air right in front of her.

"Akimichi-kun, is there something the matter?" she inquired when Chouji was able to take a breather again.

Chouji nodded his head. "Neji told me to tell you…

"We have visitors."

Tsunade narrowed her eyes in suspicion. Visitors? She peered through Chouji, who seemed sort of excited at the news he was going to tell her. "What do you mean, Akimichi-kun?"

As if on cue, Neji and Shino came inside and bowed at the respected Leader. "Hokage-sama," Neji started as he stood right beside Chouji. He seemed troubled to Tsunade when the blonde kunoichi saw him. His eyebrows were knitted together and his frown was permanently in place.

"We have urgent news." He nodded to Shino who opened the door.

As the door opened and the two figures that Neji saw from before, Tsunade gasped and covered her mouth with her hand. It had been a long time since she had seen him. Having grown at least a few inches the past three years - even though he was still shorter than the other three - and his figure turned slightly slender. His face was rid of baby fat, and was a bit more defined. His taste in clothing had changed as well. Instead of the ridiculous orange jumpsuit he used to adore above the rest, all of the clothes he was wearing were black. Pure black. However, despite the sudden change in clothing, the medic Sannin would have recognized the boy she treated as her little brother immediately if it were not for his eyes.

His once cheerful eyes were as blank as a sheet of paper. Not a trace of emotion in sight, the lustre of brightness that used to look so adorable on him was gone, as if it was not there in the first place. That over-confident grin and cocky posture was gone as well; his façade has dropped quite a few notches, making him distant.

"N-Naruto…?" she asked uncertainly.

The blond shinobi looked at her and gave a grim smile. "Tadaima, Tsunade-baba," he said quietly.

Tsunade ignored the insult and quickly grabbed the blond into a bone-crushing hug. When she touched him by the arm he flinched visibly but she ignored it for a while, asking Jiraiya - he was surprisingly standing quietly to one side, the Hokage mused - later once Naruto has settled back into his apartment. "You brat," she said affectionately. "I thought you were never going to come back…"

"You assume things too much, Baba." She could feel the tremor that was hidden in Naruto's voice when he said that. Tsunade let go immediately, making a mental note of the slight emotion on the boy's voice. "I feel a bit tired… is it okay if I go back home now?" he continued, itching to get out of the stuffy office and back to his cozy apartment. When he saw Tsunade's approval, he instantaneously opened the door, but before he could leave…

"Okaeri nasai, Naruto."

Normally he would have turned back and grinned, but he just left without saying anything.

--

After she sent Neji, Chouji and Shino back home, Tsunade gave Jiraiya a look that meant 'Something has happened and I want to know what it is'. She thanked Shizune when the assistant came in with a tray of lukewarm green tea and assorted sweets and placed them on the table.

"Something has happened to Naruto," she merely said instead of asking as she poured the tea onto her former teammate's cup. She watched Jiraiya's thoughtful face and nodded seriously.

"I suppose you could say that…" he murmured, as he took a sip from his cup. "After all, three years is a tad too long for him to train."

Tsunade frowned at the perverted hermit's subtle avoidance in their conversation. "He _flinched_ when I hugged him earlier, Jiraiya. I knew you saw it… hell, even Naruto's friends saw it. He never, _ever_ flinches. I want to know what happened!" She didn't care if she sounded a bit whiny, all Tsunade can do is worry.

'_If it were only easy, Tsunade…_' Jiraiya thought inwardly, though he said out loud, "I noticed it; I'm not that stupid, you know. It happened a while before… when we passed by the Wave Country. The bridge builder, Tazuna, gave the brat a hug when he saw him and Naruto flinched so hard that he had to make a stupid excuse when he was questioned."

Sighing, the Godaime Hokage stood up from her seat and walked towards the window, leaning her head against the cool glass. "What does it all mean…? Did Naruto tell you anything? Anything at all?" she asked, hoping that Jiraiya would nod. "What about the Kyuubi? Do you think the youkai kitsune is doing something to Naruto that he has to act like this?"

Unfortunately he did not and shook his head sadly. "Not even I, his sensei, knew what happened to him…" then he snorted and crossed his arms. "And I thought you were smart. You're forgetting that Naruto's merging with the Kyuubi. Even if something like that is happening, Kyuubi wouldn't be successful since the brat has complete control of the demon's chakra." He heard the blonde Sannin sigh in defeat.

"Now what're we going to do?" he asked her.

Tsunade looked at him and said, "We look after Naruto for now… to see if anything else, aside from the sudden coldness in his eyes and personality had changed." She silently hoped that if her surrogate little brother had changed… it was for the better and not the worse.

--

When Iruka learnt that his favourite student had come back, he was very ecstatic. He had missed the bundle of orange that strolled around the streets of Konoha, occasionally humming some kind of nonexistent tune he just conjured up and show at Ichiraku, ordering miso ramen with delight. But he was not however, expecting this.

Right in front of him sat Naruto, but instead of grinning like the mischievous ninja he always was, he was actually brooding. And to Iruka, when the blond is brooding and whatnot, it usually means serious business. Heck, even if it were a serious business, Naruto would not be brooding like…

…Like a certain Uchiha.

"It seems awkward, doesn't it?" a voice said in his ear, making the brunet jump a bit. He turned around to see his lover, Kakashi looking at the blond shinobi, who was stirring his miso ramen every once in a while. "I never even knew that brooding was in Naruto's vocabulary list."

Iruka ignored him and walked towards Naruto smiling gently at him. "I didn't know you were back, Naruto. How come you didn't tell me?" he gave him a mock glare. He was surprised when he saw those dull blue eyes when Naruto looked up from his ramen.

"I'm sorry, Iruka-sensei. I was just really tired yesterday… I didn't even get a chance to cook dinner," was the silent reply from the blue-eyed blond.

Kakashi copied what Iruka did and ruffled Naruto's head, noticing that the latter had flinched. "Maa, you disappeared for three years and now you suddenly appear without saying hi to your favourite teachers? I'm really hurt, Naruto…" He - and Iruka - waited silently for the typical outburst of, "NANI? WHAT DO YOU MEAN FAVOURITE TEACHERS? IRUKA-SENSEI IS MY ONLY FAVOURITE TEACHER, YOU PERVERT!" from the blond, but none came.

Instead, Naruto seemed so tense when the three years was mentioned.

The Chuunin teacher worriedly waved his head over his former student's face and said his name.

"H-Huh?" Blue eyes blinked furiously as he looked at his former teachers. Before he could have the chance to answer he was fine, somebody had said his name out loud.

"NARUTO?" Three shinobi looked behind them and saw Sakura with her jaw dropping down and her green eyes as wide as teacup holders. She was on her way to the training grounds the meet with Lee for the day since Tsunade had given her a day off until she saw a familiar tuft of messy blond hair, sitting down and eating ramen. "I-Is that you?"

Lifeless blue eyes peered towards the kunoichi, making her shiver slightly at the coldness of her friend's eyes. Why were Naruto's eyes like that? It seemed as if… as if his soul was sucked out of his body and became an empty shell. It is almost as if…

… He had turned into another Sasuke.

"It's nice to see you again, Sakura-chan," Naruto replied, as he stood up from the stool he was sitting in, not turning to see her. He dropped a couple of money onto the counter and said good-bye to the owner. "Arigatou for the food, Ji-chan. Sakura-chan, Kakashi-sensei, Iruka-sensei, I'll see you later." With that he left the three of them dumbfounded with their eyes looking at his retreating figure. They were even more surprised when the ramen bowl he was eating was still full with noodles, meat and vegetables.

Sakura could feel her heart pounding so hard in her chest, as a sign of a bad feeling. What happened to that obnoxious boy she used to pretend to be annoyed with? What happened to one of her cherished friends? After whole three years he disappeared… he finally returned to where he belonged, but why did it feel like he still was not there?

'_Naruto… you've changed.'_

**Tsuzuku**

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**Next Chapter:** In which Sasuke makes his own appearance and Shikamaru and Sakura try to confront Naruto and his weird behaviour.

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**Crystal:** So... what do you guys think? Good? Bad? Should I continue? Or should I leave it and never ever continue it again? This idea has been lingering in my head for quite a while now...

Anyway, please leave a review and it will be appreciated! Until next time!


	2. Ch 1

**Crystal:** Wow, you guys. Just... wow. I never thought I could get this much reviews, and it's only the prologue! -grins cheekily- One of the **best** birthday gifts I could ever have, seriously. Thank you very much! -glomps everyone-

Anyway, here is the second instalment of Moments. Enjoy! Oh, and many thanks again for **ChibiNekoSakura** for the beta. Arigatou gozaimasu! -huggles-

**Warnings:** Yaoi and M-Preg in later chapters, and possible sexual contents as well. _You have been warned!_

**Disclaimer:** I merely use Naruto and its characters for my own sadistic pleasures, so can't a girl indulge herself once and a while?

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**Moments**

_Chapter One: As I Lose the One I Cherish the Most…_

His steps echoed through the dark halls as he walked through them. He did not care for the coldness aura that surrounded him for he was used to it. As he entered another room, several ANBU bowed at him in respect despite the fact they were a lot older than him. Satisfyingly seeing that made him proud, he sat down in one of the armchairs in the room and motioned them to speak.

"We've followed your orders, sir. It seems that Uzumaki and his companion have returned back to Konoha safely," one of them said, as he subconsciously wringed his wrist nervously.

Normally, Uchiha Sasuke would do this by himself, but training had come first and he was sure that the dobe would have detected his chakra signature right away if he were at least ten kilometres near him. Also, he had not had any time to do that. And besides, it was waste of his time.

Even though he knew that was not the reason why…

The other shinobi who was standing beside the one who spoke earlier continued speaking. "Though, something weird was surrounding him. A type of obscurity… Anyway, we could've followed them further but his companion sensed us and we had to flee."

Lines creased on his pale forehead. "He didn't detected your chakra?" he asked monotonously, with his fingers intertwining, signalling to the other people in the room that he was going to brood soon.

They all shook their head. "He seemed distant and his mind seemed preoccupied."

"I see…" he trailed off. Something was not right. Even though Naruto was - and still is - an idiot and a dead last, surely he would have felt them. "You're dismissed," he replied, as he stood up from his seat and walked towards the window.

Remembering how he left had been surprisingly painful for him. It was confusing… especially since how a certain blond dubbed him the cold-hearted prince of all cold-hearted princes and how it would be the end of the world when he started feeling something else other than arrogance and vengeance. But then again… the dobe was wrong.

He was always wrong. Just because he did not act out his feelings well like some people, it did not mean that he was actually emotionless. Okay, so maybe he was emotionless at first, but some stupid blond and the said blond's stupid antics made him change.

It made him feel weak.

It made him want to protect the usuratonkachi.

It made him want to die for the stupid dead last.

'_Hn… the dobe can take care of himself. It's not like he's going to drop dead all of a sudden,_' he tried convincing himself. But no matter how hard he tried, how come when he says it out loud, it sounded so…

Wrong?

And anyway… right after the news he just heard. When he found out three years ago that Naruto would be leaving Konoha, he snorted at the foolishness of his former teammate. Could he not comprehend it to his stupid head that he did not want to come back at all? Their fight at the Valley of the End would have proved that. But surprisingly, during those three years, no information of the blond vessel coming to Sound, it made him feel stupid… so curious.

Only Naruto could make him feel like that.

He looked at his faded reflection in the glass with his empty eyes. His hair had grown a bit and his face was paler than ever. His height too had grown and his body was lean and built. If he had a lot of fan girls trailing after him when he was young… he would've had a whole lot more now that he had gone to adulthood.

"_Something weird was surrounding him. A type of obscurity…"_

Sasuke frowned deeper when he remembered the ANBU's voice. Obscurity? In general, the obsidian-eyed youth would have snorted at the idea of some kind of a bad aura surrounding Naruto, but this time it seemed… _real_. Leaving the room and the whole building altogether, the sole heir of the Uchiha clan went to look and gather information about his rival. Being Orochimaru's golden boy did have some advantages, he mused. He can enter and leave Sound for as long as he pleases, no questions asked.

He raised his head, as a sign of acknowledgement when he saw a Sound-nin guarding by the gate and smirked inwardly at the sight. He did not know why this certain information could affect him a great deal. It was not his business any further on what was happening to Naruto so why was he going to gather any news? But then again, for quite a while now he was remembering some things that should be left forgotten… maybe it was some kind of a sign?

And besides…

How can he forget someone he considered as his? He would make sure to find out what was going on with the dobe; he will do whatever it takes to get the information he needed. Because for the first time in his life - and as much as he hates it - certain emotions were surfacing to his pale face once again,

But this time, he dared not denied it.

And it was all thanks to Uzumaki Naruto.

--

Being back to Konoha had been too surreal, in Naruto's opinion. He was used to the quiet forests and rushing rivers where he had been. Walking alone down the path when Ero-sennin decided to leave him for a while for his perverted researching. He had seen many things during his disappearance and none of them were as nice but certainly not the worse either.

**_You're dwelling on it again_**, a voice in his head appeared. Naruto could feel the restlessness inside him, but he pushed it aside and kept on walking down the Konoha streets, ignoring the weird, curious looks the villagers now give him instead of the hateful gazes.

The once cheerful blond ignored the voice and headed towards the forest grounds, hoping he could find the serene atmosphere he had felt during his three-year absence. But then again… the said atmosphere did not stay too long; it was more of like the calm before the storm, only much, much worse. As he came out of the clearing, he sat down by the river edge, watching the carp swim by the cool water.

**_Are you going to ignore me all day?_** The voice once again spoke, only this time a bit louder since it was ignored earlier.

_I was hoping I would_, Naruto finally replied as he walked away from the stream and sat down under the tree. He watched the leaves fall down one by one, as the sign of autumn is here and almost ending. Winter was fast approaching. Blue eyes lowered their gazes on his bandaged arm and fingered the loose binding.

The blond shinobi felt a soft, purring sound deep inside of him and gave a tiny, comforting smile. The sound made him relaxed a bit… since he was supposed to _be_ calming himself actually. But instead, all he can do is reminisce. Of all people, only he, Uzumaki Naruto, muses over something stupid from the _past_! God, he sounded like a pathetic schoolgirl. What's even worst is that they were _bad_ memories.

_"Just don't answer back…"_

Naruto closed his eyes, hearing himself ask why to the question.

"_For some reason…"_

Clenching his fists, his arms went around his abdomen, as if he was trying to protect himself from the non-existent danger.

"… _I think I'm in love with you."_

And he let a single drop of tear come down his cheek, oblivious to the dark clouds that suddenly appeared and lashed out raindrops, so hard and fast.

Kyuubi tried not to get annoyed when his host continued to reminisce and purred more. No matter how hard he tried, the brat cannot help but remember those words that kept on haunting him both in reality and dreams. But then again, those were not the only things bothering him. Partly it was his own fault he was like this… and surprisingly, he was feeling a sense of guilt even though he was supposed to be a cold, merciless killer.

He was amused though, when the Ero-sennin and the old hag Hokage did not even sensed something wrong with Naruto, especially towards his chakra fluctuation. The youkai also realized that not even the Hyuuga prodigy or the perverted former teacher of his host noticed something was wrong. He could not help but be a little bit smug since he had helped conceal the 'problem'.

Naruto can tell them when he's ready… it will probably be soon anyway.

_**We should get back home, brat. It's raining too hard… you'll catch a cold.**_

_Hai, I will._

--

After the hard, pouring rain, Sakura and Shikamaru looked everywhere for their blond, hyperactive friend all around the village. When she had seen Naruto the day before at Ichiraku, the pink-haired female was beyond taken aback, hell that was even an understatement. She had never seen Naruto look so… defeated, in all the years Sakura's known the shinobi. Right after saying her goodbyes to her former sensei, Kakashi and Iruka, she set off the find anyone of her friends.

She was a bit disappointed when Hinata had work to do at the hospital and Ino was nowhere to be found. TenTen went to spend little time as much as she could with Neji before he left for his mission and Lee was somewhere in the training grounds with Gai-sensei for their daily ritual training. Kiba had to baby-sit his nephew and niece since his sister and brother-in-law went to a dinner party, and Chouji was stuffing himself at the barbeque restaurant (Sakura didn't want to disturb the Akimichi, especially when she found out Kiba got sat on by the big-boned shinobi when he was bugging him after a tiring training session). Shino obviously didn't want to be disturbed when the green-eyed female found him by the river, meditating. She was glad, however when she found Shikamaru by the hill of the park, watching clouds and went up to him.

"Shikamaru-kun!" she exclaimed as she took a deep breath, calming her heart down. "I have news and it's really important!"

The lazy jounin looked at his girlfriend's best friend with a bored look and scoffed lightly. '_Wow, haven't heard that one before…_' he thought sardonically and sat up, crossing his arms. "What is it then?" he asked.

"Naruto… he's back!"

Shikamaru suddenly dropped the lazy façade and stood up, dusting off his pants. "Since when?" he asked. He had missed the loud, obnoxious ninja. And to think, he used to think that Naruto was only a nuisance (in a good way, he supposed)… but when he disappeared three years ago, everything had been quiet. _Too_ quiet. Sure Kiba was still here, but it was not the same.

His dark eyes noticed Sakura hesitating for a bit. "Etto, it is hard to explain… he's back, but… at the same time he isn't," she replied back, as she used her inhumane strength and dragged Shikamaru to the Yamanaka Flower Shop when it started raining heavily. "You will have to see it for yourself, but first we have to find shelter. It's raining too hard to continue looking for him."

When they got to the store, they saw Ino coming from the back and gave them an inquiring look. "You two looked like drowned cats," she mused amusingly and leaned against the counter to give Shikamaru a proper kiss, ignoring the glares she received. "So, what's up?"

"Where were you? I was looking for you all around the village!"

Ino snorted. "Apparently not, Forehead-girl. I was in the back, throwing away the rotten flowers. Now, what's wrong Sakura? It's like you've seen a ghost or something," she said and led the two of them inside the house and into the living room. "Hold on, I'll go get some tea and biscuits… Hmm, and probably towels as well…" She went to the kitchen, leaving a troubled Sakura and a curious Shikamaru behind.

"What did you mean when you said Naruto's back… but at the same time he isn't?" he asked, as he helped the blonde kunoichi place the tray on the coffee table when she was having a bit of trouble holding the towels and the tray at the same time. "It requires for Naruto's body to be here if he's back, you know… unless half of him was somewhere outside Konoha or something."

Sakura glared at the dark-eyed jounin and restrained herself from hitting the Nara after thanking Ino for the towel. "Don't you think I know that? I know what I saw… and I'm not talking about Naruto's physical body… okay, so maybe a little bit of that party, but I'm not worried about that…"

"Naruto's back?"

Shikamaru nodded at his girlfriend and gestured Sakura to keep on talking. "What I meant is… he looks so… different, especially his eyes. You know how vibrant they are, right? How his eyes would light up mischievously when he's going to do some stupid prank, ne?" Shikamaru and Ino nodded, still looking a bit confused as to where all of this was going.

The pink-haired kunoichi took a deep breath and said, "What I meant is… that look in his eyes… it's gone. Not to mention, how he acts… it's like how…" she trailed off.

"How…?"

"It's like how Sasuke-kun used to act when he was still in Konoha," Sakura finished, watching Ino drop her teaspoon with a loud '_CLANG!_' and Shikamaru furrowing his eyebrows.

"We have to find him, ask him what happened… something obviously happened during that trip of his," Shikamaru muttered and crossed his arms.

Ino looked at the two of her friends and sighed. "As much as I would like to help, I still have to take care of the shop. Okaa-san is feeling under the weather today and Otou-san has a mission, so I'm the only one who's available," she said, feeling disappointed. She hadn't known Naruto back then, but after everything's that happened - especially after knowing what happened during the failed mission - she had learnt more about the blond, even to the point of knowing about the Kyuubi. "Do you want me to tell the others? I'm pretty sure Kiba and Chouji would be ecstatic, knowing that he's back."

Shikamaru nodded and gave her a goodbye kiss when Sakura noticed it stopped raining. "I'll see you later," he muttered, watching Ino nod contently. "Sakura, let's go."

Sakura gave her best friend a hug and followed the jounin out the house and started looking for Naruto.

The both of them looked at every nook and cranny to where the future Hokage usually was and so far, they haven't had any success. At first they tried at the Ichiraku at Shikamaru's suggestion, but Sakura told him at what happened at the ramen stand yesterday. The next thing they went to was the training ground, but all they saw was a group of genin training their shuriken aiming.

The pink-haired female frowned and was about to tell Shikamaru to ask the Godaime-sama for Naruto when she realized there was one more place the blond might have hung out. "Shikamaru, I think I know where Naruto is."

"Geez, if I had known it would take this long to look for him, either you or I would've asked that perverted sensei of yours or Kiba to borrow their nin-dogs and/or Akamaru," the dark-haired man grumbled, saying 'troublesome' every chance he gets.

Sakura just rolled her eyes and now started to wonder _why_ or _how_ Ino fell for the lazy jounin as she distinctly heard the grumbling every now and then.

--

_Feeling himself getting slammed against the tree was not a good reaction. Someone moulding their body to his, as if they were trying to make a point that they fit together like a jigsaw puzzle was not a happy reassurance either. Dangerous lips sought out his own as he tried to fight the person trapping him; it was even a worse feeling than the other two combined._

"_I suggest you stop struggling right now…" a sultry voice whispered into his ear after the hard, passionate kiss he was given. "No matter how hard you try… you'll never escape from me, I'm always in your dreams… in your mind… and soon…_

"_In your heart…"_

'_And you'll definitely forget about_ him_.'_

"Naruto, there you are!"

The aforementioned shinobi stiffened at the sound of his friend's voice. He had not meant to avoid all of his friends… honest, but he just wanted some alone time. A lot of things were invading his mind lately, not to mention there are some things he wanted to erase badly, but he did not have the power to do so. If only…

"Naruto!"

Naruto blinked furiously, and looked at the two shinobi in front of him. He was impressed that Sakura and Shikamaru were able to find him on top of the Hokage Mountain. Not many people actually know where this place is… except for one person anyway. The blond frowned when he remembered that little tidbit. '_Great… did I really have to remember that too?'_ he thought, but out loud he said, "What are you guys doing here?"

Shikamaru frowned at the sight of the blond. It was true on what Sakura had told him and Ino. Naruto was back all right… but only physically. His eyes became dull, the cheerful aura had dissipated from the blue-eyed shinobi, and it was like some spirit had possessed him and he didn't mean the Kyuubi.

"How come you didn't tell us you were back?" he inquired, still looking at the blond as he tried to locate any hints why he had changed.

The blond shrugged and looked up to the still cloudy sky. It might have stopped raining, but surprisingly… the clouds stayed, and it fitted his mood perfectly. "Ano sa… you're just like Iruka-sensei and Kakashi-sensei… I've just been really busy, okay? I mean, I just got back… pretty tired and all…" he ignored the now exasperating looks he was receiving.

"If you're tired, then why aren't you at home resting?" Shikamaru persisted, while Sakura now looked at him questioningly. Where was he getting at? Normally, he would have just scoffed and say it was too troublesome and the like.

Stiffening slightly - which both Shikamaru and Sakura failed to ignore - Naruto kept on staring at the grey clouds and smiled humourlessly. When the two of his friends saw the smile, they knew this type did not suit the blond well. '_I just couldn't possibly tell them…_'

No, it would not bode well; and besides, what would he say? "_Oh, I'm not at home taking a huge-ass nap right now because the silence is killing me and the solitude of my apartment reminds me of my three-year absence! Gee, it had a lot of torture, pain and suffering, would you like me to elaborate?_" He really didn't think so.

"… It's because I prefer the fresh air," Naruto lied nonchalantly, as he stood up and wiped off the dust he collected from sitting on the rock. "Now, if you don't mind, Tsunade-baba wants me to talk to her." He started walking away from the two he trusted the most out of all of his friends.

"W-Wait, Naruto…"

He stopped when he heard Sakura's voice. "Yes, Sakura-chan?" he asked, not turning around to face him.

Sakura fidgeted a bit, as if she was thinking what to say next. "Join us for lunch tomorrow, okay? I'm pretty sure the rest of the gang would want to see you again," she hoped he would say yes.

He felt a painful tug in his heart but paid no heed to it. Naruto lowered his head, and clenched his fists a bit. "I'm sorry," he whispered and then he was out of sight.

Shikamaru watched all of what was happening in front of him and sighed inwardly. He walked towards the pink-haired kunoichi and gently put a hand on her shoulder. "He'll come around," he muttered.

He certainly hoped Naruto would… for the sake of Konoha, after all… without the blond's radiating sunshine, the Village of the Hidden Leaves would be a dreadfully dull place.

**Tsuzuku **

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**Next Chapter:** In which Iruka and Naruto have a father-son moment, Tsunade decides something that could very well be risky for someone and one of the many secrets will be revealed.

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**Crystal:** -fidgets in her swivel chair- Any questions and concerns? Anything wrong? Should I keep on posting up chapters?

Anyway, this will be my last update for now since I have exams the upcoming week and the week after that. Don't fret though, fellow readers and reviewers! I have a semester break after that so my first priority would be posting the chapter up ASAP.

Until then, don't forget to review! -smiles- See you all later!


	3. Ch 2

**Crystal:** I'm back with another chapter! -smiles widely- I am extremely thankful for all the reviews again (you guys rock!) mainly because you're still reading my precious fic, and the fact that your reviews made me smile through all of the stress and pain during my examination week (which ended just a few days ago and now a new semester will be starting next week - new courses, tee-hee -smiles even wider-).

Anyhow, as always, **ChibiNekoSakura **thank you being my beta! Now please enjoy and have a happy reading!

**Warning:** Yaoi and M-Preg, and possible sexual contents as well. _You have been warned!_

**Disclaimer:** I can't own everything... that would be insane.

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**Moments**

_Chapter Two: I've Always Thought You Were The One…_

"He's restless."

Tsunade stared blankly at the ex-Jounin sensei in front of her and nodded slowly. "Sure…" she said with a disbelieving tone in her voice. "But first… would you please elaborate on what you're talking about?" She was a bit surprised to see him _without_ his usually perverted book he always reads.

Kakashi sighed and sat on the chair in front of the current Hokage's desk. "I'm talking about Naruto." Even though he was not assigned with the looking over of his former student, Kakashi felt responsible to see the blond. So every morning, afternoon and night, he would visit Naruto even for just a few minutes. But, as he kept on spending a bit of time with the blond shinobi, he could feel him itching to go and embark on another journey, taking missions again and visiting places.

It was just unfortunate for him, however, when Tsunade had forbade the Kyuubi-vessel to any missions since he had been away too long.

"How can the brat be restless? He's been away for _three_ years! Isn't that enough for him?" she bellowed, showing the signs of over protectiveness she always felt for Naruto.

The pale grey-haired ninja sighed once more and looked straight into Tsunade's eyes. "He keeps on staring at the entrance gates, and every time I see him, he's outside," he reasoned, slightly backing away from the Hokage.

Tsunade made sure to keep her temper in check and breathed slowly. "Maybe he likes the fresh air…? The environment he lives in is _not_ in anyway clean," she retorted.

"I doubt it… but the more peculiar thing is whenever he's outside, I don't see him training. Just sitting down underneath the tree or something…"

The fifth Hokage closed her eyes and probed into her mind a bit. Either Kakashi's brain had been fried due to his extent reading of Icha Icha Paradise or he was telling the truth, Tsunade could not decide. But, what the Jounin was telling her was a bit true. Like yesterday, she called him again to her office and asked the blond vessel if there were any problems regarding the seal, but all he did was trying to persuade her to finally give him a mission, a long-term mission.

She sighed and looked at Kakashi. "What do you propose on how to deal with it then? We can barely get him to initiate the talking, and when he does it's one or two words that usually comes out of his mouth!"

Kakashi's eye curved up, indicating he was smiling under his mask and gave two thumbs up. "Don't worry. Iruka's talking to him right now… being his father figure, Naruto's bound to tell Iruka something… right?" he said, thinking his lover would have a better chance of talking some sense into the young adult.

Tsunade gave a tired nod and leaned back into her chair. She dismissed Kakashi off, who in turn disappeared in a puff of smoke.

The slug Sannin had prided herself into being a smart aleck once… especially when she had a teammate like Jiraiya. She could figure out anything out of anybody… she might not have the strength to learn a lot of jutsu like Orochimaru… or have Jiraiya's… well, something of a good quality, but Tsunade knew she was just more than her monstrous physical strength and unlucky gambling streak.

She looked at the three-panel picture frame on her desk and gave a small smile. On one of the panels was the picture of her former lover, Dan, grinning widely as he stared at the camera. The second panel was of her little brother, Nawaki, doing the same thing but this time he had his thumbs up. The last panel was of Naruto. With his ridiculous, orange jumpsuit, Tsunade could see the cocky grin placed in the middle of the boy's whiskered face. His blue eyes shone childlike innocence, full of mischief and wonder. The metal part of his hitai-ate was gleaming brightly in the sunlight.

It was then she saw the last panel Tsunade realized that she did not want to lose anyone she loves the most, whether be by dying literally or figuratively.

'_I will figure something out…_'

--

Naruto stared at the brown eyes of his former sensei as he comfortably sat into the couch. Waking up going straight to the washroom was not a good way to wake up in the morning, he realized especially when you are doing something else other than peeing or constipating. It was not also comforting when someone, who you considered to be a parental figure, heard you from the lavatory when they were cooking you a decent breakfast.

He did not know how explain it first of all, heck, he did not want _anybody_ to know! And to the extent of his problems… he hated lying to Iruka. Iruka was the first person to accept him and lying to him would be a poor way of repaying the man.

**_If only somehow I'd gotten out, I would have beaten the crap out of -_** Naruto ignored Kyuubi's ranting, saying it would be futile for the both of them if he _did_ manage to come out. He felt a sense of comfort though, at the youkai's way of apologizing. He knew the stupid, old fox would be subtle when asking for forgiveness and he did not mind one bit.

Iruka on the other hand, gave Naruto a worried look. When he had heard Naruto vomiting from the other side, he thought the young man was dying. He knows from experience that Naruto hardly ever gets sick, and his immune system is by far strong. So how could someone as hyperactive - used to, anyway - as Naruto be sick? Watching the blond looking right back at him gave him a small shiver up his spine.

He looked so… calm. As if nothing happened earlier.

"Are you…"

"I'm fine, Iruka-sensei," Naruto interrupted and gave a small, exhausting smile. "I think I ate something wrong last night… don't worry about, okay?" It was not a complete lie, but it was not the whole truth either. And besides… he hated it when Iruka worried about him. To Naruto, he did not deserve being looked over and fussed about.

The brown-haired Chuunin sighed and then nodded in defeat. He then looked over to the kitchen and gave a small twitch in the eye. When he heard the retching sounds he immediately left the kitchen and stormed into the bathroom, trying to soothe Naruto down. He did not even realize the food he was trying to cook was burning by the second. '_Oh well… I suppose eating out will have to do_,' he thought but out loud he said, "Well, since breakfast is out of order right now, how about we eat out, hm? How does ramen sound to you?"

Naruto tried not to look disgusted, but nodded at the suggestion slowly. Surprisingly enough, he had gotten rid of his fetish for the unhealthy food. He supposed eating the cup of noodles his whole entire life had something to do with it, but nonetheless he agreed just to satisfy his former sensei.

As they walked out of the run-down apartment, Iruka noticed how Naruto's eyes have become a bit more distant. He did not fail to notice the far away gaze that appeared as well. Just what was he really thinking? The brunet wondered.

When they arrived at the ramen-stand, it was still empty with a person or two sitting down by the counter. The owner of the stand's eyes beamed with delight to see his favourite customers when they had sat down right in front of them. "What'll it be, gentlemen?" he asked while giving them a wide grin.

"The usual as always," Iruka said politely and turned his head to look at his former student.

Naruto gave a deadpanned look towards the other shinobi's way and looked at the owner. "One miso ramen, Ji-chan," he mumbled and gave a bored gaze out into the blue sky. He knew he would have to sit and chat with his former teacher one way or another…

"So, did Jiraiya-sama look after you properly?" Iruka initiated the conversation when silence ensued. He still remembered how Naruto stiffened at the question a few days back and he wanted to know what happened.

The blond gave a sarcastic snort and crossed his arms. "If you mean leaving me for half a year because he was behind in his research 'looking after me properly' then I say, yes he did look after me properly," he muttered.

"You mean he abandoned you?" an indignant shout was heard all around the ramen-stand. The brown-haired Chuunin knew how strong Jiraiya is - considering that he IS one of the Sannin - but to leave the blond alone? Did he forget that a certain organization was after the boy?

"I wouldn't call it abandoning, Iruka-sensei. More like dumping me in some unknown place, giving me enough money to fend for myself, drilling my head to train everyday until he got back was more like it," Naruto tried to soothe the teacher. He did not want to come across with an enraged Iruka so early in the morning.

Iruka tried to breathe calmly and was a bit relieved to see Naruto's eyes give the same familiar brightness as they had their conversation but still… what if something bad happened to him while the Sannin was away? Did Jiraiya even considered the risks of leaving Naruto alone? He would have to talk to the Godaime Hokage about this… surely she would want to know.

Silence became dominant again when the ramen was served. It did not last long however, when Naruto decided to initiate the talk this time. "So, what has been happening here?" he said as he stirred his noodles nonchalantly.

Iruka stopped slurping for a minute and looked up in thought. "Well… Sakura is still under Tsunade-sama's teachings and according to Shizune-san, she's making excellent progress," he paused for a minute and smile when he saw the proud look in the blond's eyes when he heard the pink-haired kunoichi's improvement. "And I also heard that she's seeing one of Gai-sensei's students… I think it was…"

"Rock Lee?" Naruto cut him off, not looking surprised. "Somehow I knew that was coming… good for her."

Iruka nodded in agreement and continued speaking. "Hyuuga Neji and Aburame Shino have joined the ANBU ranks and Inuzuka Kiba has his own genin team to teach." He noticed Naruto stopped playing his food and practically a surprised look was in his whiskered-mark face.

"Dog-freak has little brats to teach? Huh… who would have thought," he murmured, with amusement lacing in with his voice.

His former teacher laughed at the statement. "Well, I think with Hyuuga Hinata's presence he seems more… 'tame'," he replied, drinking the rest of the broth in his bowl. He made a point inside his head how he finished before the blond.

"Hinata-chan and Kiba?" Naruto asked and watched Iruka nod his head. The blond was not as stupid as people thought him to be. He might be dense once in a while, but he noticed how the way Hinata used to blush and stutter around him. He was happy for her… he did not deserve the kind heiress and besides, who would want a demon? "Interesting… how about Shikamaru and the others? How are they?"

"Shikamaru is also now a Jounin and I've seen him hanging out in the Yamanaka flower shop most of the time seeing as Ino works there for the most part… Yes, Naruto don't look so surprised… you somehow knew Shikamaru and Ino would be together one of these days," Iruka laughed again when he saw the blond coughed out his water.

Naruto sulked and crossed his arms. "I thought he liked Temari… especially after the supposed rescue mission…" he trailed off. Seeing the distant look again, Iruka coughed and continued talking.

"Well… actually, it was Temari-san that got those two together. And anyway, Chouji… well, he's also a Jounin and TenTen's also a Jounin instructor like Kiba. Hinata's medic-nin training is almost complete. You have to admit Naruto… your friends certainly have come a long way." '_And you have too…_' he thought, looking at his surrogate son with a proud glint in his eyes.

The younger shinobi nodded agreement and took a bit of noodles into his mouth. "Ne… how about you, Iruka-sensei? How are you?" he asked, and looked at the blush forming on his former teacher's cheeks. "I've hearing things about you and Kakashi-sensei… is it true?" The blond had a few suspicions considering the facts were visible right before he left Konoha.

"You can bet on it!" Both looked behind them to see Kakashi standing with his eye curved up into a happy smile. The grey-haired Jounin walked up and put an arm around the blushing Iruka's shoulder. "How are you, Naruto?"

Naruto shrugged indifferently and went back to staring at nothing and stirring his now cold ramen. "Congratulations, Iruka-sensei, Kakashi-sensei. You guys deserved one another," he said while patting the brunet in the arm.

Kakashi scratched his cheek with his finger and looked up thoughtfully. "Maa… I think I'm forgetting something… oh yeah! Hokage-sama wants to talk to you… I think," he said, while taking a seat beside his lover.

"You think?" the blue-eyed blond raised his eyebrow. "And I already saw her yesterday so why would she call me so early in the morning?"

The ex-ANBU shrugged and ordered a small miso ramen when the waitress asked for his order. "You know Tsunade-sama… I think she lives for torture," he replied, while ignoring the indignant snort coming from Iruka's mouth. "Anyway, I hardly count this being morning anymore since there's only an hour left until noon, ne?"

"I suppose so," Naruto sighed and looked at the wasted ramen. "I might as well get ready. It was nice talking to you Iruka-sensei. I'll probably see you later…" He was just about to fish some money out of his pocket until Iruka stopped his arm, seeing him flinch again at the contact.

"Don't worry about this, Naruto. I'll pay for it, ne? Now off you go… Tsunade-sama wouldn't want you to be late." The Kyuubi-vessel nodded slowly and left Ichiraku, going to the opposite direction of the Hokage tower.

Iruka looked at the retreating figure and sighed exasperatingly. He then turned to his lover and watched in amusement as he ate his ramen with the speed of lightning. He could not comprehend to how he and Kakashi got together. They were complete opposites and yet…

"So, did Naruto say anything about his journey?" Kakashi interrupted his thoughts and watched him with his happily curved eye.

The Chuunin blushed deeper and shook his head, while paying the owner his debt. Taking Kakashi's arm, they both left the ramen stand and walked towards the academy where he still had papers to mark - it was Saturday today so school was not in session. He gave a small sigh and leaned his head against the taller man's shoulder.

"No… we mostly talked about what happened here. The only thing he mentioned was Jiraiya-sama usually leaves him by himself to do his research…" he replied with an annoyed tone in his voice. "Can you believe it, Kakashi? I understand that he is now Naruto's main sensei, but still… leaving him by himself! What if he was ambushed by the Akatsuki?"

Kakashi nodded and looked up at the sky. Jiraiya left a bit of that off… "We can't really blame him… maybe he gave Naruto space. After all, being together for three years straight can get annoying since you're talking to the same person all the time."

Iruka shook his head and closed his eyes. A migraine was starting to enter his head. "But still… that is not a good enough reason," he murmured as he opened the school entrance.

--

When Naruto entered the Hokage tower, he gave a grim look. Right in front of him was Sakura with a less than happy look in her eyes. She stomped towards him and pulled the blond by the arm, escorting him to Tsunade's office. Naruto realized how mad she was - considering most of the time he always gets her mad when they were young - and winced slightly.

He knew she was mad because of his refusal earlier to have lunch with the rest of their friends today. The blond knew she meant well, but he was not ready to face them all. Despite the fact that he cherishes his friends a lot, for Naruto it seems weird to see his friends because of the time he had not seen them. He knew he was still a part of the legendary Rookie Nine but it was not the same.

He will never be the same.

"Sakura-chan… please let go of my arm."

"NO!" it seems Inner Sakura had made its presence known, Naruto mused quietly. He looked at the blazing green eyes of his friend. "I will NOT let go until you tell me you're coming with me in the next hour!"

The blond sighed inwardly and looked at Sakura straight in the eye. Both he and the kunoichi knew she was acting childish right now, but Tsunade's student did not care. She will make sure Naruto will participate and come with her to the restaurant later on. After all… why have a party without the celebrant? It would be pointless, for sure.

"Why do you try so hard to make me agree to come with you…?"

Sakura tried to breathe calmly and loosened her grip from Naruto's arm. "Why do I try…? It's because I hate the way you look right now! Ever since you've come back here - to us - you seem far too distant and quiet!" she exclaimed, finally saying what she had been thinking since yesterday.

The pink-haired woman looked directly into the blue eyes of her former teammate. She noticed how his eyes held a small, astonished gaze and became a bit smug. '_At least I've managed to put a little bit of emotion to those eyes of his,_' she thought. "I don't like that Naruto. It just doesn't seem like you… but even if you're like that for a while, just at least agree and come… Everybody missed you! Ino called them and they were happy to know you are safe and well…"

Naruto heard Kyuubi laugh inside him and could not help but give a warm smile inwardly. He felt reassured he still had friends… right before he left, he told everyone how he was the vessel for the Kyuubi no Kitsune and left immediately before he could see their reactions. Needless to say he was not hated… and for that he was happy. But… the once happy, cheerful blond three years ago is gone. If Sakura and the others found out his new secret…

Would they still be friends with him?

'_I should cherish this moment with the others… after all, once they find out they'll bound to look at me in disgust,'_ he thought darkly and let his arms cross around his chest. He closed his eyes and gave a faint smile, going steady with his decision. "Hai, Sakura-chan… I'll come with you later," he murmured.

Sakura blinked and grinned widely while giving the shinobi a huge hug - she failed to ignore the flinch Naruto induced - and looked him with sparkling eyes. "Good! Now come on, Tsunade-sama's waiting for you." She grabbed his arm again and continued to drag Naruto to the office.

When they were in front of the door, she gave him a stern look and said, "Don't think you're off the hook yet, mister. I will be waiting for you until you're done talking to Tsunade-sama right here. So don't think of escaping!"

"But what if I left in the windows?"

An unladylike snort was given out. "I don't think you'll be escaping from the windows, Naruto. I know you better than that. Now go in, she's waiting for you."

Naruto gave a small wave towards Sakura's way and entered the room; his eyes peaked in interest when he saw the supposed 'closet-pervert', Ebisu, standing in front of the Tsunade's desk. He turned to look at Tsunade and gave her a questioning look. Was he going to be trained by the Jounin standing in front of him like the last time? He snorted inwardly when he remembered the disastrous events when they started training for the final part of the Chuunin exams.

It was still entertaining however when Jiraiya took over as his mentor.

Tsunade gave him a gentle smile and motioned for him to sit in one of the chairs. The blond complied without any hesitation and patiently waited for Ebisu and the Hokage to finish talking. He noticed the shock look the sun-glassed man gave him when he was sitting quietly and patiently waiting for him to join into the conversation. Did he drastically changed that much?

'_Apparently so…_' he thought, and focused his eyes towards the three-panel picture frame the blonde Hokage had on her desk. He took it curiously - not noticing the other two people staring at him as he took the frame - and raised an eyebrow when he saw one of himself in the last panel. He never knew the old hag had a picture of him…

"Naruto." He looked up saw Tsunade staring at him with amusement and shook her head. "Now that I have your full attention, you remember Ebisu don't you?" she asked him.

Naruto gave a small nod and smirked at the standing Jounin. "Yeah… I remember him… he's a closet-pervert," he said, watching Ebisu sputter and blush in embarrassment much to the amusement of the Hokage and her heir.

Tsunade shook her head and tried to keep her laughter in check. "Enough, brat. I think Ebisu's going to have a heart attack soon."

"Why am I here?"

The brown-eyed woman was about to respond when an ANBU came in and told her the other people she had been expecting had come. She nodded and motioned the shinobi to let them enter.

"What does the old hag Hokage want anyway?" a voice was heard from outside the office made Naruto widen his eyes. That voice… it sounded so much like…

His.

Tsunade's right eye twitched in annoyance when she heard the question. It was bad enough the blond brat right in front her was calling her old and now another brat was calling her that as well? She gave Naruto a dirty look and managed to refrain herself from bashing Naruto's head hard. It was his fault for influencing the child…

"Naruto-niichan!"

Konohamaru entered the office along with his other friends Moegi and Udon with a huge grin when he saw the familiar blond hair and blue eyes of his role model. He also noticed his Jounin instructor Ebisu there but he paid no mind to him. He walked further into the room and jumped on Naruto and gave him a huge hug. "When did you come back? And how come you never looked for us?"

Naruto gave a shrug and leaned back to his seat, hoping for the younger boy to take his arms off. He gave Tsunade a pointed look, saying to continue on with her explanation.

The Hokage noticed the look and nodded, gesturing for the other three to stand properly right beside their Jounin instructor. "I have called you all here for a very important reason. For the next few weeks or months or maybe - with a slight possibility - years, Ebisu will be going on a mission." She paused for a bit a raised her hand when she saw Moegi was going to protest.

"I'm not done talking yet."

"But, Hokage-sama… who will be our Jounin instructor?"

"And what has this got to do with me, old hag?"

Tsunade glared at all of them for trying to interrupt her and continued on. "I said I'm not done talking yet! Anyway, fortunately I have found a replacement for him…"

Naruto narrowed his eyes and glared at his surrogate sister. "You are out of your mind, Tsunade-baba! Where the hell did you get such a ludicrous idea?" he accused, sitting up from his seat. "Did Ero-sennin have something to do with this?" It irked him even more when the medic-nin shrugged indifferently and smiled innocently. He then turned to the sun glassed-man and said, "You had something to do with too, don't you? Ebisu-hentai!"

Ebisu glared at him from his sunglasses and shook his head. "First, don't call me that and second, it was purely Tsunade-sama's idea!"

Konohamaru and the others however, had no idea what they were talking about. Who was the replacement? The grandson of the former Sandaime looked at the furious look his Naruto-niichan was giving the Godaime Hokage, who was looking smug. His Ebisu-sensei however, was impassive though he could have sworn he had an exasperated look in his face.

"Konohamaru, Moegi, Udon… meet your new Jounin instructor: Uzumaki Naruto-sensei."

--

"What was the meaning of that, Tsunade-baba?" Naruto paced in front of the Hokage's desk as he glared at the voluptuous woman for all its worth. "Didn't you realize that Konohamaru and the others are _three_ years younger than me? And not to mention, I'm only a _Chuunin_!"

Tsunade, who was sitting down behind the desk, merely stared at her successor and sighed. She was getting a migraine soon; she could feel it. As her eyes followed Naruto while he walked back and forth, she now had an inkling of regret to her decision yet in her mind. '_It's for his own good_,' she reassured herself. '_He's been cooped up here like a trapped bird, regardless of him staying for only almost a week. Missions will give him something to do…_

'_And who knows…? Maybe when he's back to doing missions he will be smiling exuberantly again…_' she stared at the still pacing Naruto. Out loud she said, "I've heard from others you've been moping around ever since you came back, brat. You need to go back on missions again. Don't worry about your Chuunin status; I'll deal with that.

"As the for the three year difference, who cares? I know you will do a great job to teaching those three. Besides, you're their self-proclaimed leader, so why not you?"

Narrowing his eyes, Naruto sat back into his seat and crossed his arms defiantly. "Who said I've been moping around? And what of the Elders? They would be furious to see _me_--"

"Don't you _dare_ say that you're a demon, because you are most definitely not! I will deal with the Elders and believe me… they will listen to me. And as for the former question: People said, and they are of no importance," Tsunade retorted sternly, but her eyes were soft and affectionate. "Naruto… I only want what's best for you… and right now it's best if you return to doing missions again. And besides…"

"And besides what…?" Tsunade heard Naruto mutter softly, and almost gave a sigh of relief when she saw a bit of life into his blue eyes.

"If you keep on acting like a lazy ass, your ass will become fat," she finished flatly, and smirked teasingly at the blond who was back to fuming. "Now, please leave. I believe you still have to eat lunch with your friends?" She waved her hand away to the door and returned back to the paper that was placed on her desk.

Naruto sputtered and felt his eye twitch, but nonetheless he listened to the Hokage and left the office, ignoring the curious stare Sakura was giving him when she saw the young adult walk out.

Still sitting down and staring at the stack of paper right in front of her, Tsunade frowned at the decision she had made a few hours ago. She was not sure why she made this choice but it had been a right one when she thought it up. The voluptuous woman saw how Naruto felt so restless, even if he had just come back from the three-year journey. Something odd is surrounding him as well… she was supposed to check up on the seal during the week he was back, but various excuses were made when the subject was spoken.

It was always, "Stop worrying, Tsunade-baba!" or "The seal is fine… I don't think the fox would just rip out my stomach and give everybody revenge."

She sighed and massaged her temple, in hopes of her migraine - which started throbbing when Naruto left - dying out.

--

Sakura gaped at her former blond teammate and shook her head, as if she was trying to erase a weird dream. "Tsunade-sama wants you to become a Jounin instructor? Why? How? When?" she asked him as they walked down the street to the restaurant they were supposed to meet the rest of their friends. The still had a few more minutes to spare so they were not really rushing.

Naruto shrugged and continued to stare ahead. "She's going senile, if that's what you're asking. The old hag says that I've been moping around too much," he snorted when he remembered the conversation from earlier. "She says I need to go out on missions again, and since Ebisu's going to some random mission I have to take care of his brats."

The green-eyed female looked up thoughtfully. "Isn't that Konohamaru's teacher? So, that means… you'll be teaching him?" A nod was given to her as an answer. "How come you're not jumping for joy then? I remember the both of you creating havoc for a while when you came back with Jiraiya-sama a few years ago."

"It's not that… it's just… I prefer to go on missions _alone_. And besides, if we go to a mission and somehow meet with the Akatsuki then I'll be putting their lives in danger!" Naruto frowned at the thought.

Sakura gave an unladylike snort and smacked Naruto's arm. "Baka! Would you stop being pessimistic? They're only genins, Naruto. The missions you guys would most likely do are D-rank and for C-rank missions, only escorting a person here or there! It would be impossible for the Akatsuki to jump up and ambush you when you're delivering groceries!"

She knew about the Akatsuki problem for a while - actually every single one in their close-knit group knew about the Kyuubi and the Akatsuki and felt sympathy for her friend. He had been through so much already and with this organization after him is just making it worse. As much as she wants to help, she had no idea where to start.

Staring at Naruto, she felt her spine shiver uncomfortably when she saw the emotionless eyes of her friend. She was glad that he still talks a bit, but the eyes were completely empty, devoid of emotion. She has never seen Naruto like this… not even when Sasuke had left Konoha for good. '_If Sasuke-kun hadn't left… would this still happen to Naruto?_' she wondered as her green eyes flickered to the sign dangling over the entrance of the restaurant.

"I see Chouji-kun and Kiba-kun here already…" murmured Sakura, as she took Naruto by the arm and pushed the door open, heading straight to the round table. The two boys noticed them and waved over, with Kiba yelling Naruto's name loudly. The only female so far shook her head and reprimanded Kiba by smacking his head lightly and took a seat right across from them with Naruto sitting on her left side. "Kiba… where's Hinata-chan?"

"My dearest Hinata-chan and TenTen are going to be here in a less than fifteen minutes… something about doing last minute chores at the Hyuuga Estate," Kiba replied and gave a canine grin towards Naruto. "Naruto! Look at you… wow; you look like a girl! What the hell has Jiraiya-sama been feeding you?" In fact, he was more shock than anything when he did not get any loud response but only a glare and crossed arms of his blond friend.

Sakura refrained herself from smacking Kiba again and took a deep breath. "Kiba… shut up. We don't want anyone dying here, ne? And besides, I think Jiraiya-sama forbade him to eat anymore ramen!" she gave a small giggle and stuck her tongue out when Naruto's glare went her way.

"So, how was your journey, Naruto…? Even though it was only three years like the last time, you must have seen a whole lot again," Chouji said, as he impatiently waited for the rest of their friends to arrive.

Naruto shrugged. "It was okay… boring if you ask me," he replied back nonchalantly, but Sakura knew it was more than a simple 'okay'.

A few minutes later, Hinata and TenTen entered the restaurant, followed by the sounds of light bantering from Ino and Shikamaru. The girls gave huge smiles and gave Naruto hugs; in which two were rib breaking and the other was a gentle embrace. Shikamaru noticed how strained Naruto was feeling, especially when he tried to put on a mask of content.

Did he even want to be here in the first place?

"Naruto-kun! Sakura-san! Minna-san! Sorry if I'm late…" Everybody's heads turned and saw Lee walk towards them with his hand scratching the back of his head, apologizing profusely for doing something he didn't commit on purpose. Sakura gave a loving smile and hugged her boyfriend when he sat on her right side, giving a huge grin towards Naruto's way.

"Welcome back, Naruto-kun!"

Naruto only nodded and looked at everyone, frowning when he failed to see Neji and Shino. He turned to Shikamaru, who was sitting beside him and asked quietly, "Where are Neji and Shino?"

The lazy Jounin looked up with a bored look in his eyes and sighed. Just before he was about to answer, Kiba interrupted them and gave a small smirk. "I don't really think Shikamaru should answer that question… if you're looking for Neji, ask _her_," Akamaru's owner nudged his head towards TenTen, who was talking to animatedly to Hinata.

TenTen noticed how the three men were looking at her and gave them a glance. "Why are you all looking at me like that?" she enquired curiously with her eyebrow arching slightly. "Do I have something on my face?" She saw Naruto shrugged while Kiba started laughing.

"_So_, TenTen… did you give Neji a goodbye kiss before he and Shino left?" The dog owner made smooching noises and cackled when a small blush appeared on the brunette's face.

"Kiba-kun… you really shouldn't tease TenTen-neesan like that," Hinata chided softly and tried to console her boyfriend when her cousin's girlfriend had somehow punched him in the head when TenTen was sitting two seats away from him.

Naruto gave an odd look and shook his head. He congratulated the weapon summoning kunoichi when Sakura told him it was going to be TenTen and Neji's anniversary next week. He looked at the menu for a bit when a couple of waitresses came to serve them. The blond's eyes then drifted off outside the window and looked at the blue sky. He could see the a few birds flying from building to building and sighed. He wished he were a bird right now… he wanted to get out of Konoha…

He did not even notice the rest of his friends looking at him with concern when they heard the forlorn sigh that escaped his lips.

--

There were times where Naruto does something so stupid it makes Sakura tick and right now he was doing it. Lunch was peaceful for the most part, until both Kiba and Chouji had started fighting over the last tempura. After eating a delicious meal, the restaurant had provided them a bottle of sake - even if daylight was still out and the rest of the shinobi might still have work to be done - and had a small talk.

During the conversation, Sakura noticed Naruto hadn't touched his cup of sake yet. She supposed it was because it was too early for drinking alcohol, but the rest of the guys - aside from her boyfriend - were drinking theirs. Another thing was that whilst they were eating, Naruto hardly ate his teriyaki chicken and had to give the rest to Chouji, who gratefully thanked the blond. The medic nin-in-training knew regardless of Naruto's unhealthy obsession for ramen - which she had hardly seen its presence during the week Naruto returned - her former teammate will eat anything.

She also noticed how he would always look out the window, and his eyes would glaze over. Sakura knew he was not having any conversations with the demon inside him - since she had seen Naruto speak to Kyuubi himself - but just seeing Naruto like that… it made her feel like there was something he wasn't telling her. She was not the only one who noticed it either.

The green-eyed female met the eyes of Ino and Hinata as they too stole a glance from the blond Chuunin. TenTen even had the guts to ask if something was bothering him and all she received, as an answer was a shook of head. Shikamaru looked at him thoughtfully, no doubt letting his strategic mind look for a logical answer and Lee tried to wave his hand at him, but obtained no attention.

When the group of friends walked out of the restaurant and continued on with their work, Sakura, Ino, Shikamaru and Chouji went with Naruto, mostly likely since the blond's apartment was near the Yamanaka Flower Shop and Ino will have to take charge again since her mother was still not feeling very well - even though her aunt from a nearby village had come to help her so she could go back to doing missions.

Kiba none too gently gave Naruto a noogie - he did not notice the uneasiness in the younger adult's face, saying he will see him later and held Hinata's hand as he walked her down the street and to the Hospital. TenTen gave her farewells, saying she has to meet up with her genin team and left after giving Naruto a pat on the shoulder.

Before commencing to walk, Sakura gave her boyfriend a chase kiss and told him that she will see him back home - she and Lee had been living together for a few months now - and waved when the Taijutsu specialist ran towards the gate to return back to his post.

"Ne, Naruto… I never got to ask but… how was your trip?" Ino asked, feeling the silence was overwhelming her.

Naruto shrugged once again and Sakura had to keep her temper in check since she was getting annoyed on all the shrugging her friend made.

Chouji took out a bag of chips from his Jounin vest and opened it, taking a few pieces out and sticking them into his mouth. "Did you get to eat a lot of new stuff, Naruto?"

"No… not really. Ero-sennin and I usually stay in a village for a month or two - or when the super pervert's super lazy, we stay for half a year," Naruto replied, seeing the familiar shop one of his friends own. "Well, I guess this is it… it was nice seeing everybody again." He nodded with at them as a sign of goodbye and headed straight to his apartment.

Shikamaru turned to Sakura as he opened the door for his girlfriend. "Aren't you going to go after him?" he enquired impatiently. Sakura gave him a glare and stomped off, ready to give Naruto a piece of her mind.

"Che, So troublesome," he muttered and entered the shop, hoping he could have some rest in Ino's room.

--

He did not know why - of all times and in broad daylight no less - he had the sudden urge to visit Konoha. To visit him. He supposed he was disappointed for a small time when he found out the blond had returned to Konoha. He was not finished him yet… no, of course not; far from it actually.

The hooded man who was trying to lurk in the lack of shadow noticed a pink-haired female - names were no of importance to him - walked to the run down apartment building and entered the tattered place, looking as if she was ready to beat the crap out of someone. Fortunately for this man, he knew only one person who lives here… and it was the same blond.

Perched up on the tree beside a window, he saw the blond stood up from the sofa and open the door when a loud pounding was heard. Lowering his chakra - he was surprised the said blond hadn't sensed him yet. He listened into the conversation.

"Okay, what is your problem?" the pink-haired female demanded as she cornered the male back into the sofa, ignoring that he was lying on his stomach, using his arms as a pillow. "All throughout lunch you seem to be spacing out! What the hell is going on?"

"I don't know what your talking about, Sakura-chan," he heard the muffled reply of the blond. The eavesdropping man creased his forehead and listened more to the banter of the younger adult he was pursuing during the three years and the pink-haired woman, who, in his opinion, was threading on thin ice.

He watched as the green-eyed female sighed annoyingly and kneeled right in front of her friend. "Naruto… onegai… please, talk to me! I know something happened during the three years you've spent outside Konoha… and I want to know what it is!" she pleaded.

He watched in morbid fascination when the blond stiffened at the choice of topic and then shrugged. He could see the young woman getting angry by the second. The man was sure she was going to explode.

"WOULD YOU STOP SHRUGGING AND IGNORING THIS! Something is wrong, Naruto. I can feel it! You were not _always_ like this, even when you were secluded in your own home! Just tell me what the problem is!" He heard a shrilly, worried voice from the window.

He could see his blond clenching and unclenching his fists tightly as if he wants to tell something but at the same time he does not want to tell it. He sat up from his seat and looked straight into the green eyes of the woman who shivered visibly when she saw the blond's eyes. His dark eyes watched him stood from his seat and paced right in front of the coffee table.

"You want to know why I've been like this ever since I came back…?"

"For goodness sake, YES!" The woman followed him and stood up.

"…" The hooded figure narrowed his eyes when he did not hear Naruto spoke. But when he did, he wished he had not known at all…

"Sakura-chan… I've done a huge mistake… something I shouldn't have done at all… something that I had no control over…"

He watched the aforementioned woman look at one of her best friends and touched his arm slightly, ignoring the flinch the blue-eyed blond made. "What do you mean? Naruto?"

"I… I'm… pregnant."

**Tsuzuku**

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**Next Chapter:** In which a few more people find out about the pregnancy and Naruto reluctantly decides to do something about his predicament.

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**Crystal: **So, did everyone like the long chapter? Honestly, I never really thought this chapter would be freakishly long, but my hands just wouldn't stop typing! Anyway, I can't really promise very long chapters like this further more into the story, but expect them every now and then -smiles-

Please don't forget to review (I need something to soothe me down before I find out my test results... -cringes-) and wish me luck you guys! My test results will determine whether or not I pass my two major courses (stupid Provincial Exams... -sighs-).

See you later!


	4. Ch 3

**Crystal:** I'm truly, deeply sorry for the late update. Writer's block had gotten to me, _and_ my muse ditched me in a long run and so for that, another long chapter is in order. I hope it will be enough as a peace offering -smiles sheepishly-

Aside from the lateness, I thank all of the reviewers who reviewed, the readers who read and **ChibiNekoSakura **who beta'd. I don't know what I would do without you all! -gives a huge hug- Thank you!

Now, enjoy the chapter!

**Warnings:** Yaoi and M-Preg; and possible sexual contents as well. _You have been warned!_

**Disclaimer:** I don't own anything... even if I did, I don't think certain _people_ would share with me anyway. -glares at the two pairs of crimson eyes-

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**Moments**

_Chapter Three: Underneath the Waves_

"P-Pregnant?" Sakura faintly said as she miraculously somehow sat down on an armchair with her eyes wide and transfixed directly to Naruto's eyes, as if she was searching for the truth inside the blue depths. Unfortunately, no matter how much she wanted to admit she was hallucinating, she could see the truth in her friend's eyes… and how painful it was.

Cautiously, she stood up from her seat and carefully walked towards the young man, marvelling at how much Naruto had grown. He was still the shortest male out of their male friends, now the same height as her, maybe even taller by a few centimetres. His blond hair was still out place and always wild but it was now longer. The once chubby cheeks were gone and his cheekbones were defined and his blue eyes were still as exotic as ever.

Sakura slowly placed her hands on Naruto's whiskered cheeks and felt the shinobi flinch. '_He must think I'm disgusted by him… baka_,' she thought and felt the defined lines of the whiskers. Why did he keep this from them? From her? Did the Godaime-sama and Jiraiya-sama know about this at all? So many questions ran though her head. She just hoped Naruto would answer them.

Releasing his cheeks, Sakura guided the blond male to the couch and forced him to take a seat. "How many weeks?" she asked softly, knowing how awkward the question is.

"Five weeks," Naruto replied automatically and stared at Sakura in surprise. He thought she would storm out and call him a liar, but she stayed…

"How did you know?"

"Kyuubi told me."

The medic nin-in training did not need more elaborations. After knowing Naruto's secret, she quickly headed straight to the library for more information. She was taken aback to see many books about the Kyuubi and other demons when they were being feared and hated. The pink-haired female found out that kitsune youkai who are male were able to pregnant. When she first read the passage, she ignored it, thinking Naruto could not really get pregnant and quickly dismissed the thought.

'_Now that he mentioned it, he did tell me they were merging… can the ability of getting pregnant be passed unto him?_' she wondered.

The blond shinobi on the other hand, tried not to bluntly blurt out, "Why are you still here? Aren't you most likely to look at me and disgust and never see me again?" It had been lingering inside his head. He was relieved to see Sakura stay but… did he really want to tell her what was going on? "Since we're doing twenty questions, what else are you going to ask me?" he asked quietly, wrapping his arms around his stomach.

Sakura gave a small chuckle and looked up thoughtfully. "Well… do Tsunade-sama and Jiraiya-sama know that you're with child?" She frowned when she saw Naruto's head shake from left to right. "What? Why not?"

"Kyuubi helped conceal the baby's forming chakra," Naruto muttered. "Ero-sennin wasn't around when it happened… he was out of the village we were staying in to do a little bit of scouting…" Sakura opened her mouth and somehow cut her off. "D-Don't ask who the father is… aside from me. J-Just don't, okay?" he pleaded.

Sakura saw the look in his eyes and nodded slowly. When she could not stand it anymore, she gathered Naruto into her arms and started sobbing. She knew no matter how hard this time is right now for the blond, Naruto would not cry because of his pride, so she cried for him. Unbeknownst to her, the blue-eyed male let his tears flow. Sakura, feeling the lukewarm tears, started to pet Naruto's hair in hopes of soothing him.

"S-Sakura-chan?" sniffled Naruto, as he looked straight into the eyes of his female best friend with his own blue eyes.

"Hai?"

"Don't tell anyone, okay? Please?"

Silence ensued for a while until the blond heard his friend sigh. "Don't worry, Naruto… your secret is safe with me. I promise." She held him tighter and continued speaking. "However…

"If anything should happen, you will tell Tsunade-sama and Jiraiya-sama, is that understood?" She felt Naruto nod and smiled softly.

'_As long as Naruto is not ready to tell them…_

'_I will protect him._'

Neither noticed a dark figure that took leave from the nearby tree.

--

Sasuke frowned as he quickly ran through deeper into the forest. For two weeks now he had been gathering information from everywhere he can gain access to and he was getting mildly irritated since it seemed that wherever he went, he could not gain access to Naruto's information regardless of him torturing the people he was trying to get information from.

He cursed the toad Sannin for being wise and made sure they were discreet. He already went to five villages and so far not one single rumour in a conversation about them. It did not help that he had to go back to Sound soon or else his supposed _mentor_ will send his henchmen to find and retrieve him back.

The frown in his face turned into a scowl when he thought of Orochimaru. The snake Sannin was getting a little boring, he mused. Almost every single jutsu the pale-faced freak had he already learned and it was most pathetic when every time they talk, Orochimaru would have this desperate look in his eyes, trying to convince him to stay longer so he could take over his body.

Foolish idiot. Does he not realize that he will never get his body as hard and wretched as he tried? Sure he bribed him with powerful jutsus, but did he not realize that Sasuke was merely using him so he could have more power and knowledge for his arsenal? No, the Uchiha would not have a doubt Orochimaru even had that thought pass through his brain. And maybe the thoughtless snake finally realized it - after all, he _was_ supposed to be a genius as well, was he not? - and tightened his choice of staying out of Sound for a period of time (hence the henchmen would will retrieve him if he decided to 'wander' off).

Seeing that the sun was going to set soon, Sasuke slowed his running and carefully chose a small clearing to make a campsite. Looking through the perimeter and setting up traps that would make the simplest movement trigger it, he put the twigs and small branches he picked up and made a bonfire.

Aside from the crackling fire, everything was silent and for some reason Sasuke felt annoyed by it. Normally he would have welcomed the silence with wide, open arms but now… He shook his head and stared at the flames. As the sun sank down the horizons, a sudden memory came back to him as if it was taunting him…

_-- Flashback --_

_The sky was as dark as it can get as they set up camp for the night. Team Seven was just coming back from the three-day mission, to drop off a few local civilians to another village and stopped to take a rest. The gathering of the firewood and scouting the perimeter had been annoying, thanks to the shrilly and loud voices of Sakura and Naruto that all Sasuke wanted to do was take a little bit of nap._

_He did not know how or why he woke up again, but when he did he saw the most peculiar thing he ever laid eyes on, and that was saying something. There sitting right in front of the fire was the dunce, Naruto, looking as if he was not on patrol even though he was supposed to be. His legs were up, right against his chest and his arms were around the limbs. He was staring intently at the heated flames that one could see the reflection in his eyes._

_Sasuke was fairly glad the blond was caught up in the moment and didn't sense that he was staring at him (the dark-haired youth was surprised to even know someone like Naruto could feel if anyone was looking at him at all). As Naruto kept his gaze at the dancing flames, his eyes held a look that was so familiar like Sasuke had seen it before. And it was then Sasuke realized the look was the same thing he could see through his eyes: Loneliness. Who ever thought the blond idiot could feel like that? He was so cheerful, loud and boisterous. Surely if Sasuke had not realized from before that it was his teammate then he would have used a Chidori on the impostor for impersonating Naruto._

_It seemed that he fell asleep again when he felt Naruto shake him uncontrollably, hearing the younger blond whisper furiously, "Wake up, Teme! It's your turn to keep on watch… hurry it up! I want to sleep!"_

_Sasuke grumbled and tried to give the dunce a hateful look while looking half asleep and sat up, ignoring Naruto who was putting his ridiculous night cap on and snuggling in his sleeping bag for some well-deserved rest. The Sharingan-user drank water from his water bottle and commenced watching._

_Two hours passed, which seemed like an eternity to the Uchiha, and a few more after that to wake up his remaining teammate for the last shift. Sasuke prodded onto the bonfire with a stick and added a few more to reduce the cold. His dark eyes wandered around the campsite and saw the shivering figure of Naruto as he tried to snuggle deeper into his sleeping bag. _

_He looked vulnerable… as he kept on sleeping, Sasuke mused. Without his cocky grin, loud voice and reckless attitude, he seemed like an innocent boy. And contrary to popular belief, the annoying dobe did not snore, much to the amusement of the stoic boy. _

_A helpless child… that's how Naruto looked like right now. Even with his stupid orange jumpsuit, he looked like an… "Angel," he murmured silently, and frowned immediately after he remembered what he uttered a few moments ago. He tore his gaze away from the sleeping genin and scolded himself for thinking such a ludicrous thing. _

_It was beyond weird, when he realized he was looking towards the sleeping boy again and let off an extremely faint smile. Even if he was asleep, Naruto could still rile him up and not know it. _

_Staring at the flames and relishing the heat, he decided that no matter how Naruto had influenced him or how the dunce managed him to often look at the bright side of things, it was not enough for him to stay in Konohagakure. _

_With the thought engraved in his head, he proceeded to wake up Sakura for the last shift and went back to sleep._

_-- End Flashback --_

'_What the--?_' Shaking his head to rid of certain thoughts, Sasuke noticed the stars shining brightly from the night sky, twinkling with mischief and wonder. Lying down on his sleeping bag, he stared at them for the longest time until he fell into an uncomfortable slumber.

--

Naruto sighed as he watched himself from the bathroom mirror at six fifty-six in the morning on a Monday. It had been two weeks. Two weeks since Sakura found out about his secret and two weeks since she promised to keep it quiet. So far, she was as silent as a mouse although there was a few times where she would give him a stern look when he would feel a slight headache or feel nauseated. He ignored the looks though, but the blond was sure Sakura was close to bursting out and pulverizing him to death.

After taking a shower and cleaning up, he went into the kitchen and placed two pieces of bread in the toaster for breakfast. Normally, he wouldn't eat anything at all, but now that his female best friend found out, she made sure that he would eat at least a plate full of the four food groups.

Supporting his head with one hand, he wondered why he wanted to keep the baby in the first place. He supposed it would be cruel to kill an unborn child… and besides, didn't he say that someday he wanted a child of his own?

'_Though I never really expected it would turn out like this…_' he thought bitterly, as he carefully caressed the abdomen that would soon have a bulge. Sometimes late at night, he would often think about the baby and how it would turn out…

Would he or she have the same attitude as his or her other father?

Is there even a chance it would know his or her other father?

Would Sasuke hate him even more if he finds out about his predicament? Naruto frowned when he thought of the younger Uchiha. During the last three years he travelled, he had never heard of any news about him and Otogakure. He knew Jiraiya knew what was going on about them, but he refused to tell the blond Chuunin turned Jounin instructor for some reason. He supposed it was for the better, considering there was a chance of him pursuing the rouge ninja and practically try to drag him back by his shitty ass all the way to Konoha.

Sighing one more time, he left his apartment and walked to the training grounds to meet with his new genin team. To tell the truth, he never expected for Konohamaru and the others to be _still_ at a genin level. He thought they were already Chuunin - after all, the age of fifteen was the age where his friends had turned Chuunin and he, sixteen - but he supposed assuming such a thing made him feel hypocritical - after all, didn't he just told the old hag to not assume things?

When he arrived at the fields, he was surprised to see all three of them already waiting for him. He never told them what time they should meet, but only said that they should be there early.

"Geez, Naruto-sensei! You said we were supposed to be here early! Whatever happened to that?" Moegi complained when the only girl of the group was the first one to notice him.

Naruto cringed when he heard the word 'sensei' after his name. He was never cut out to be a Jounin instructor! To him, teaching a group of brats - despite the fact he knew the three genin from way back - was a waste of time and patience. They complain a lot and whine too much. '_Was this how Kakashi-sensei first thought when we were still a team?_' he wondered amusingly.

Out loud he said, "Don't call me 'sensei', it makes me sound too old… and I'm only eighteen. Call me 'sempai' or 'nii-san', I don't care… just not 'sensei'." He sat down cross-legged and watched his students carefully. According to Ebisu, they finished chakra-control just a year ago. They mastered the walking on water and tree-climbing exercises; Moegi specialized in genjutsu and weaponry - especially in using senbon needles. Udon was a bit more on the strategic side, much like Shikamaru. And Konohamaru?

Blue eyes stared at his self-proclaimed rival to the Hokage position and raised an eyebrow. Ebisu had mentioned to him that Konohamaru had improved his stealth and was much efficient in ninjutsu. He was still loud and obnoxious - like when the blond was younger - and played a lot of pranks in honour of his name.

"So, so, Naruto-niichan! What kind of mission are we doing today?" Konohamaru asked eagerly, ready to spend the rest of the day with his 'older brother'. He had missed playing with the blond shinobi when Naruto left for a long time - not once, but twice - to travel and train. But the weird thing right now though was that, it seemed like the blond acted so differently. He never wore his orange outfit anymore - and Konohamaru _knew_ how much his nii-chan loved that stupid clothes - and ever since he was back, he never played pranks too - and he knew how much Naruto loved annoying the villagers.

The aforementioned blond shrugged and crossed his arms. "We have no missions for today. Since I'm taking over Ebisu for now, I've never really seen the techniques you guys use right now. So… we're going to train only."

Groans were heard and the blond smirked.

"Konohamaru, Udon, you guys are up first."

--

"No, no, NO!" Naruto gritted his teeth and tried not to pull his hair out in frustration. For the past four hours, they could not handle a simple instruction! The three shinobi right in front of him might have professional skills as individuals and were childhood friends, but never in all of his life he had seen a pathetic act of teamwork! Sure, calling his students pathetic was hypocritical but regardless of the situation, at least _his_ former team's improved!

Konohamaru, Moegi and Udon have been friends for a long time.

Team Seven barely knew each other from the beginning.

Surely Konohamaru and the others have the advantage of knowing each other for a long time for the three of them to have superb teamwork skills. He tried to not get angry - after all, it would affect the baby - and took deep breaths. It did not help either when the damn fox started laughing at the stupidity his students were acting right now. Sighing, he told them to take a rest and just lie down for a moment.

He looked at the clouds for a moment and then back at the genin. Naruto looked at how tired and exhausted they were, and they only trained for four hours! Frowning, he decided that this would not do very well if they were at an actual mission - and not some kind of mission like buying groceries or taking out weeds. They need to get out Konoha… have an _actual_ mission; only the problem is…

It would mean that there's a chance where a certain organization would pursue him once again and he did not want for Konohamaru and the others to get involved - there were too many people who knew and were a part of it already, he did not want to put any other people in danger.

**_You do realize that you would have to get this baby checked by a medic-nin, right?_** Naruto heard Kyuubi growl, feeling more stressed than ever. It had been a while since he went to get a check up on how he was doing.

Not that he wanted to insult Sakura… but the more experienced medic-nin he could find right now were Tsunade and Shizune, and they were a part of the group he did not want to tell about his predicament.

**_How about that Sand kunoichi? Did she not check you the last time before you went back here?_**

_I'm not allowed to leave Konoha yet; you know that._ Naruto crossed his arms and stared at the now laughing genin. He supposed Kyuubi was right… just before he returned to Konoha, he and Jiraiya visited the Hidden Village of Sand, much to the curiosity of the perverted Sannin.

To tell the truth, he didn't really want to tell Gaara and his siblings about his pregnancy, but with all the things Kyuubi was telling him (like how there was another chakra aside from his and Naruto's was lingering there), he wanted to make sure that the stupid fox was telling the truth. Fortunately to him, Temari never asked at a lot of questions when she was examining him and Gaara seemed to be subdued. Kankuro was out for the moment and Naruto was grateful at his sensei's perverted tendencies for once.

And besides, even if he wasn't allowed to leave Konoha, Temari could still come and visit him instead, right? Kyuubi stressed it to him but scowled deeply when Naruto reasoned with him that if Temari had visited him instead then she would have to state it with the old hag.

_**You're starting to have a bulge, brat. Soon that old hag of a Hokage of yours will notice the other brat's chakra… it's best soon if you leave again.**_

_Even if I have to leave, Tsunade-baba will need a good reason for me to get out of Konoha…_

_**Exactly! I have a perfect way for you to leave… although; there would be a huge chance of your subordinates getting hurt.**_

Naruto shook his head and glared at nothing. _No! I refuse… I won't let them get hurt._ He stood up from his seat and brushed his pants, letting the pieces of grass fall off his clothing.

Konohamaru saw the blond stand up and asked, "Ne, Nii-chan… are we going to eat lunch now?" His stomach has growling for quite a while… that, and he didn't really have any breakfast this morning - aside from a piece of bread and a gulp of orange juice.

Naruto absentmindedly nodded in reply, not noticing the curious looks the younger shinobi was giving him and walked slowly behind them.

The late Sandaime's grandson furrowed his eyebrows and nudged his two best friends into a huddle. "Didn't you see that? He nodded at my suggestion, and it's only ten in the morning!" he whispered furiously. He was turning into a worrywart when Konohamaru saw how his nii-chan had a dazed look in his eyes.

Moegi and Udon both nodded at what he said, although the girl had a sceptical look in her eyes. "Well… Naruto-sempai might have a lot of things in his mind right now. Konohamaru-kun, I don't really think we should pry into his business…"

"Nonsense! Boss had been here for us ever since we were young! Didn't we promise to protect him when something bad happens to him?" The boy retorted and then result into giving his friends a pity look. "Come on, you guys! Moegi-chan… Udon-kun… don't you want to help him?"

Still not budging, Moegi turned to her other teammate and saw Udon nodding his head at Konohamaru's question. Giving a defeated sigh, she finally nodded her head and smiled softly. "Hai, of course I want to help… but remember, if he catches us and gets angry, you will be held responsible. Understood?" she asked with a stern glare, saying that she would give the most severe punishment if Konohamaru shook his head in disagreement.

Konohamaru nodded his head in excitement and jumped up. "YATTA! SUGOI DESU!" he yelled, suddenly feeling embarrassed when Naruto raised his eyebrow at him.

--

Konohamaru frowned when he watched Naruto drinking green tea instead of slurping his ramen as fast as lightning. He never really perceived his 'older brother' to be a tea-drinker, considering every time he passes by the Ichiraku, the blond would always stuff himself with ramen that it would look like he was pregnant. The fact that Naruto didn't even order a single bowl of ramen would have made the younger shinobi run to the nearest hills and scream bloody murder - even the owner of Ichiraku was flabbergasted!

"Nii-chan… why did you suddenly taken a liking to drinking tea?" he asked a few minutes earlier, when he heard the instructor ask for some of the drink.

Naruto shrugged and thanked politely at the owner's daughter when she poured him a cup. "Tastes change… just like everything else," he murmured, relishing the heat coming from the lukewarm drink. Konohamaru didn't know what that meant, but somehow he figured that Naruto's priorities changed, as he grew older… but wait,

Did that mean the blond didn't have the passion and ambition to become a Hokage anymore?

The young genin shivered uncomfortably when the thought crossed his mind. Ever since he met Naruto, he had considered him a rival to the position of Hokage, and it should stay that way. He didn't know what to do if the older blond decided to leave his dream for something else.

"Sakura-san!" He heard Moegi say, as Konohamaru saw a pink-haired woman coming towards their way, holding hands with a bowl-cut haired man. He cringed when he saw Sakura and turned back to eating his ramen.

He never liked Sakura for some reason. Sure, she beat the crap out of him the first time they saw each other, but that was not the reason why. He just didn't like her. Maybe it was because in the earlier years, she was not really on a friendly basis with Naruto, after all the older shinobi _was_ their leader and if someone bashed his head then he or she was considered the enemy, right?

"Have you eaten this morning, Naruto?" he heard her ask, as she sat on the other side of the blue-eyed man while her boyfriend - Konohamaru remembered his name now, it was Lee - ordered for the both of them.

Naruto sighed with a hint of exasperation and nodded slowly. "Hai, hai… I ate, Sakura-chan," he mumbled and drank more tea, pouring another cup. "Lee, how's training?"

The dark-eyed man gave an enthusiastic grin and nodded vigorously, "Training is awesome, Naruto-kun! However, how come I don't ever see you in the training grounds?" he asked curiously, not noticing the sudden tensed muscles of Naruto and Sakura's worried look.

He didn't know what was going on, but Konohamaru knew he didn't like the troubled pose of the instructor. "We just came from there, Lee-san! Naruto-niichan's treating us to lunch because of a good workout this morning, it was tiring, but nonetheless awesome!" He frowned when he saw Sakura's green eyes narrowed whilst watching the blond male and sighed dismally.

As Konohamaru slurped the last drop of broth, he overheard Sakura murmuring in a chastising voice. He ordered another huge bowl of miso ramen, to make sure the two elite shinobi wouldn't catch him eavesdropping.

"You're overexerting yourself."

"No I'm not."

The young genin thanked the Ichiraku owner and sniffed at the noodles' scent. It seems that Naruto had influenced him into liking the unhealthy food. As he started plucking the vegetables away from his bowl, he continued to listen into the conversation.

"I just realized something, Naruto… you have get yourself checked over soon. As much as I would like to do it, I'm not done my training yet."

"_He_ said I should leave again… but I know the old hag would want a reason for me to get out of Konoha… and besides, I can't really leave my team now, could I?"

'He_? Leave? What the hell are they talking about?_' Furrowing his eyebrows, he discreetly saw Lee joining into the other two's conversation when the topic was changed. Even though the glare was not directed at him, Konohamaru shivered in fear. Just with the lethal gaze, he knew the big-forehead lady disapproved of Naruto even mentioning, in the slightest, something about leaving and despite he didn't know what was going on, he too agreed with her.

He only arrived for almost a month now! It's not even enough time for the both of him and his Nii-chan to pull pranks on the villagers together. Frowning deeper, the words 'checked over' echoed in his mind over and over again. It sounded like the blond shinobi was ill or something; and Konohamaru did not like how it sounded.

Maybe further investigation is needed…

--

Shikamaru frowned as he watched his girlfriend's best friend fidget in her seat. Ever since she came back from confronting Naruto in his apartment, the pink-haired female looked like she was hiding something from them. He noticed during the meetings the Hokage-sama held, she would often look Naruto as if she was telling the blue-eyed shinobi to out right tell something to the leader of the village.

Normally, he would just scoff at the situation and call it troublesome - as every other thing that required moving for more than an hour, but he couldn't help that curiosity was getting to him. He blamed Ino for that. The blonde kunoichi had always been curious - it did not help either since she was one of the huge gossipers in Konoha. Saying farewell to Sakura when her boyfriend picked her up from the Hokage tower, he left and went straight to Ino's house when the blonde's mother had invited him over to dinner.

Today he asked her what Naruto said, and today Shikamaru found out nothing. Usually, he would sigh with relief and just continue on with life but he could not shake off the feeling that something was going to happen that could very well change everything.

And he had no idea how right that sounded.

"Something's bothering you," Ino mentioned when they were both by the kitchen sink; she was washing and he was drying. "You've been quiet throughout dinner and usually you and Otou-san would be talking about missions." It was true. When he entered the Yamanaka household, he hardly spoke two words to Ino's father unless the older man asked him a question he could not avoid.

He was thankful that nobody asked him during dinner - even though he was graced with curious looks - and continued on eating.

Turning off the faucet and amusingly watched Shikamaru wipe the last plate at least fifteen times, Ino grabbed his hand and dragged him to her bedroom whilst saying good night to her parents. Turning the knob open, Ino let Shikamaru lie down the bed while she sat on the chair by the vanity and started brushing her hair.

"Ino… has Sakura told you anything this past week?" The lazy shinobi stared at Ino's blue orbs when she watched him through the reflection of her mirror.

Ino shrugged and pulled her hair into a messy bun and finally faced her boyfriend as she sat down on the mattress. "What do you mean? Big-Forehead tells me a lot of things, you know." She giggled and stuck her tongue out when Shikamaru rolled his eyes. "What? It's true. Anyway… is this something about what you've been thinking since two hours ago?"

Shikamaru nodded lazily and grabbed the pale hand of his girlfriend. "Remember after lunch from two weeks ago, Sakura followed Naruto home?" Ino nodded, with her eyes having the curious gaze again as she lay down beside him. "Well, ever since then don't you think Sakura's been acting strange?"

"Like she had something to hide?"

"Yeah."

Looking at the ceiling, Ino furrowed her eyebrows and shook her head. "Well, the only time I've seen her was during last week's meeting and today's… though, it did seem like she was reprimanding Naruto last week, giving him that glare she always does when she's annoyed." She turned to her side and curled up against the lazy shinobi. "Shika, you're being paranoid too much, don't you think? Even if Big-Forehead has something to hide, she'll ask us for help if she needs it. And if it _is_ about Naruto's sudden persona change, I'm sure she will _definitely_ tell us… ne?"

Sighing in defeat, Shikamaru nodded in agreement and suddenly gave a murmur of 'Troublesome' when Ino left the bed and returned with a shogi board in her hand, smiling too sweetly.

"Get up, Shika-kun, you promised you'd teach me how to play, hmm?"

Troublesome indeed.

--

"Konohamaru-kun, are _sure_ this is not illegal?" Moegi whispered furiously as she and her two best friends sat on the branches of a tree as they spied on their leader. It did not help either when the leaves of the said tree they were sitting on were falling gracefully to the ground.

Konohamaru sighed exasperatingly and gave her an annoyed glare. "You've asked that fifteen time already, Moegi-chan! You're forgetting that we're shinobi? We can cover and disguise ourselves well!"

"We're _genin_, baka! Any other high-ranking shinobi would sense us! Especially Naruto-sempai!"

Speaking of their beloved leader, it was surprising for the three of them that Naruto had not even sensed their presence from the beginning. Right after Konohamaru had finished his twelfth bowl of ramen - he was quickly gaining to his 'older brother's' record which was sixteen - he hastily said farewells to the blond and his friends while dragging his own to the nearby alleyway.

Continuing from then on, they followed the dark-clad male everywhere he went. But much to the chagrin of his students, all Naruto did for the rest of the day was walk around the village, through the forest, and sat by the Hokage Mountain. Remembering how Naruto used to always catch them spying on him, Udon frantically told Konohamaru that in a few minutes the blond would catch them all, despite the fact their stealth has improved.

Surprisingly for the three of the genin, Naruto even barely showed any signs of noticing their presence. Even when Konohamaru accidentally tripped over a wooden crate of potatoes, the blond had not heard it smash. All day they had followed him everywhere until they reached his final destination: his apartment. Now, perched up at one of the big branches, Moegi, Udon and Konohamaru tried to blend in with the surroundings and carefully spied on their mentor.

Unfortunately for the three of them, their camouflaging techniques were not exactly perfected yet, so even the simplest of shinobi could notice the lack of their so-called disguise. And for another unfortunate note, the shinobi (or medic-nin or whatever you want to call her and her boyfriend) who noticed them were not the simplest of the bunch either.

"What are you three doing?" The aforementioned three froze in their spots, with a look of incredulous surprise and a mixture of anxiety when they heard a female voice from under the tree.

Konohamaru was the first to look down and saw two curious - yet one of them held another look… annoyed, perhaps? - pair of eyes and gulped audibly. Of all the people that could catch them in the act, it just had to be the lady with a big forehead and her freaky boyfriend with the eyebrows. The genin tried not to yell - after all, the majority of the villagers were getting ready for bed - but why did it have to be them? He would gladly settle for the intimidating Hyuuga or the sensei of Moegi's current infatuation to see them spying on their childhood friend.

"Uhh… Heheh, Sakura-san! Lee-san! What a pleasure of surprise… what can we do for you?" the loud boy nervously laughed as he scratched the back of his head. He didn't even notice his female best friend's eye twitching until he felt pain rushing through his head.

"BAKA! Didn't I tell you we would get caught?"

"Sarutobi Konohamaru, I have asked you once and I will ask you again… WHAT-ARE-YOU-DOING-HERE?"

As Lee tried to calm his girlfriend down - he also prayed for the genin's safety… after all, however delicate his precious Cherry Blossom is, she could beat up a guy three times her size, all of them did not notice the blue eyes watching them from the window.

"Could you all please keep it down? I was trying to meditate," Naruto said, while gazing at the guilty looks his subordinates and friends gave him. The blond Chuunin turned Jounin instructor had sensed the presence of his students for a while now, and tried to ignore them (after all, they had spied on him when they were younger, it did not make any difference to him now) but when he felt Sakura and Lee's presence, curiosity had gotten better of him.

After seeing the occurrence from the outside, the blue-eyed male invited his lingering guests inside his apartment - much to his and Kyuubi's chagrin, after all they were still figuring out what to do with his check-up - and gave them a curious look. He knew Sakura was here to make sure that he ate his dinner properly and that he would drink the vitamins she prescribed for him.

But, why was Lee here? And just what the hell were Konohamaru, Udon and Moegi doing?

When Sakura and the others entered the small home of the blond, the pink-haired woman headed straight for the kitchen to make some tea. She had sneaked into Shizune's office room earlier that afternoon to get the relaxing tea the medic-nin would always brew for the Hokage when Tsunade was stressed with all the paperwork (and instead of the booze the voluptuous blonde adored so much) and thought it would help Naruto a bit, making his muscles lax and he would be able to sleep better.

Even though she was forbidden to sneak out some stuff or medicine without Shizune or Tsunade's permission, it was the only way for Sakura help Naruto. Also, right before taking the tea away, she went to the library again, going to the restricted section of the building (and only where high-ranked - at least ANBU ranked shinobi, Jounin instructors, elite Jounin, and a few selected Chuunin were allowed) to find out about male pregnancy.

Since male pregnancy is ultimately rare, the pink-haired kunoichi only found two books on the subject, but she knew it would be enough. The books she found were heavily detailed and informative that she was glad she didn't have to search for any more books. According to one of them, there were only two options of a male getting pregnant: one is to have a demon sealed inside of them and the other is rather a bit complicated. The second option required a whole lot of chakra use and can be deadly if the male who wanted to be the carrier didn't have enough chakra reserves. Hell, even the youkai vessel would be at serious risk if they got pregnant.

Coming out of the kitchenette, Sakura held a tray of two pots of tea. One was the ordinary green tea, while the other was the one she took. While kneeling down on her knees, facing towards the coffee table, the pink-haired female asked Lee to grab the other tray with the cups.

"Why are there two pots of tea? Is this some kind of party or something?" Konohamaru asked, as he opened the lids of the teapots and yelped when Sakura pinched his ear back.

"NO, the other pot is not for _you_," she retorted and poured a cup to Udon and Moegi when Lee came back with the tray. "It's for Naruto. Now, have you taken your vitamins?" she asked the host, who was sitting quietly in the armchair. When she saw Naruto's head nodding, she smiled gently at him and gave him a cup of lukewarm tea from the other pot.

As the green-eyed female and her former teammate talked, Lee was listening curiously as did the others. It was then when Udon had asked to use the toilet when all things came apart.

Even though with the disciplining of his female best friend, Konohamaru's impatience often left him in a wrong time and in a wrong situation. And so, when Udon left for the toilet, the dark-haired genin had been noticing something that he thought he was hallucinating.

"Ne… Naruto-niichan, are you turning _fat_?" he asked incredulously as he noticed a tiny, not even noticeable bump on Naruto's stomach as the blond was trying to relax into the armchair. Konohamaru knew that no matter how many plates Naruto ate, his metabolism was high; but really, maybe the aforementioned metabolism was slowing down? Is that even possible?

Choking on his tea, Naruto tried not to show his bewildered look in front of his 'younger brother' and pounded on his chest, as if he was trying to make his lungs work. He knew he was starting to have a bulge, but he also knew it wasn't visible yet! How could he have known…? He was so deep in thought that he hadn't even felt Sakura trying to soothe him.

"Konohamaru-kun, don't act so stupidly! Naruto-sempai is _not_ in _any_ way fat! In fact it looks like he's…" Moegi cringed in thought as she tried to think up a word that would suit the blond's predicament. "He's…"

"He's what? Pregnant? Haha, Moegi-chan! I never knew you had humorous side in you! You sure do know a lot of jokes!" Konohamaru continued laughing until he saw that neither Naruto nor Sakura were laughing with him and ceased his loud guffawing with a nervous one. "Eheheh… Ne, Nii-chan, it's not true, right? Right?"

Sakura and Naruto both looked at each other, as if they were trying to speak with their eyes. Green eyes looked persistent, while the other had an apathetic look. Unbeknownst to the pink-haired female, Naruto was also having an internal argument with Kyuubi, who was siding with her. With one more glare that was meant to say 'they have the right to know', Sakura turned towards their mini audience and gave an apologetic smile, which was mostly for her boyfriend - in any case, she had left him in the dark for a while, and she felt guilty about it and sighed.

"Konohamaru, Moegi, Udon and Lee-kun," she started, while holding Naruto's arm gently, just in case he took off to his bedroom, to comfort him that no matter what the others thought (however, she highly doubt it that they would be simple-minded with this) she was always there for him and as a simple gesture of apologizing, she finally revealed it.

"He's really pregnant."

"WHAT?" the late Sandaime's grandson yelled, as his friends looked shocked and confused at the same time. Lee nodded with understanding - realizing that it was a huge secret, and he understood that Naruto was having a hard time keeping it. The Taijutsu specialist also realized that it was the Kyuubi's doing… and he did not mind. After all, Naruto was the most surprising shinobi he's ever known, so he had to live up to his expectations, ne?

"YOSH! Naruto-kun, I definitely have no problems with this! In fact, I congratulate you on having a baby on the way! You're bringing a new life and nothing is more youthful than that!" Lee reassured the blond by giving him his bright smile and nice guy pose, making Sakura smile at him fondly and hug him while Naruto gave loosened the tensed muscles he never knew he had.

Well, that was one out of four people. Looking at his students, Naruto looked at them individually. Moegi looked terribly confused, and yet at the exact same time it seemed that she had a look of excitement (?) on her face. Udon, like Shikamaru, used his mind and tried to analyze the logics; with the eased expression, Naruto knew he finally figured it out. Now that only left Konohamaru.

The dark-eyed genin looked shocked, for the lack of a better word. His eyes were wide and questioning, and his mouth was open, speechless. To tell the truth, he did not know _what_ to think. Sure he adored his 'nii-chan - after all, being an only child has its problems - and he would do anything for him, but… just how do males get pregnant? Not that he would ever doubt Naruto - and reluctantly Sakura - but did it not seemed too farfetched?

Konohamaru was glad he was not the only one who was curious.

"But… Sempai, since you're male… how did you get pregnant?" he heard Udon ask and inwardly gave him his thanks. As much as he would like to ask his questions himself, he didn't think he could string a few words at the moment.

**_Geez, didn't they know the saying, "Curiosity kills the cat"?_** Naruto heard the fox complain and agreed silently. There were things better left unsaid, and this was one of them. However, leaving them in the dark was also not an option. If they somehow accept the fact that he was a male who's pregnant and somehow aid him in his situation, he should inform them, right?

"You three know about the Kyuubi, correct?" Both Sakura and Lee gave the blond a worried look when Naruto mentioned about the youkai kitsune in front of the fifteen-year-olds. Sakura knew how touchy the subject was (despite the fact that she had the impression of Naruto and the Kyuubi were in speaking terms - friendly, much to her surprise) and it did not help either that Konohamaru and his gang of misfits did not know that the blue-eyed blond right in front of them was the vessel.

Moegi leaned closer and gave raised an eyebrow. "What does the Kyuubi have to with your pregnancy, Naruto-sempai?" she inquired.

Naruto closed his eyes and gave a grim smile. He knew it would come to this… he just hoped he was doing the right thing. "Everything," he whispered.

"Look, Naruto. If this makes your uncomfortable, you don't have to--"

"No, Sakura-chan. It's unfair for them to just stop the explanations, ne? And besides… they might find sooner or later anyway," the blond interrupted her and sat up properly, feeling authorized and in control. "I know this may come as a shock - hell, even more of a shock - but… the reason I can get pregnant is because of the Kyuubi.

"And the stupid fox had something to with this is because he's sealed inside of me." He closed his eyes to prevent the stares from coming straight at him. He was used to the hateful glares and the disgusted sneering, but the Konohamaru corps were like his younger siblings. For some reason he could not fathom, he was their role model, their leader and that made him feel happy. And if he saw the glares they were giving him, he didn't know how he would take it regardless of Sakura and Lee, who would do anything to kick the younger three out because they were overprotective of him, were sitting just right beside him.

But, as he exhaustingly tried to ignore the rest of his visitors and Kyuubi, he vaguely heard someone laughing. Laughing at him? Maybe, Naruto wouldn't pass it for Konohamaru to laugh at a serious time like this.

"Geez, Naruto-niichan! You sure are stupid." The blue-eyed Jounin felt an involuntary tick in his forehead. "Who cares if the stupid Kyuubi was sealed inside you? Who cares if you're pregnant? You're still my rival for the Rokudaime position! Sure, you'll be huge and fat for the next few months, but who cares? We'll still pull pranks later on… and maybe we can teach you're baby the Oiroke no Jutsu!" After Konohamaru said his heartfelt declaration, Moegi and Udon added more reassuring things to say with the girl hugging him.

Hearing the statement and try as he might, Naruto tried desperately to make the forming tears go away. He's accepted rejections - despite the fact that his own friends surprised him by still making him a part of the Legendary Rookie Nine and even beyond that - but his experience with his childhood years had taught him how to cherish the acceptance he was given (albeit because he definitely deserved it).

_**You can be such a girl you know that, right?**_

_Shut up. It's the hormones,_ Naruto retorted viciously, when he threw a throw pillow at his 'younger brother' when he called him fat and huge. Sakura sighed in exasperation, but he knew that she was glad she didn't have to knock some sense into the three genin; in fact the green-eyed female was proud of them. They did not let prejudice cloud over their minds and stayed loyal to Naruto. Giving Lee a fond pat in the arm - he was manly crying on how sentimental Konohamaru was being earlier - Sakura cleaned up the empty teacups and pots, heading to the kitchenette while balancing the two trays together.

_**Dumbass. The hormones would kick in later on.**_

_How would you know, huh?_

_**Female youkai AND ningen does the same thing, you foolish brat. **_

After the pointless argument, Naruto answered the questions he was bombarded with and for once, he felt like the cheerful, obnoxious twelve-year-old he used to be. He knew that part of him died a long time ago, but he did not care.

He felt all right with the world, and it was good enough for him.

--

"Man, 'Nii-chan… your bedroom's so squishy… I think I might kick Udon in my sleep or something."

"Oh please. Konohamaru-kun, you would do it anyway since you sleep like a dog. Remember when you accidentally broke Ebisu-sensei's sunglasses once?"

"SHUT UP! THAT WAS ONE TIME!"

"Naruto-sempai or Moegi-chan, can we switch spots please?"

The blond shinobi sighed in annoyance and looked up at the ceiling of his bedroom. It was late already and somehow both Konohamaru and Moegi had a crazy idea of staying over at his apartment. Udon agreed as well, much to the chagrin of Sakura. After rinsing the used cups and other utensil, she went out of the kitchenette, realizing that it was late, thus making her angry and tried to kick the three genin out using a broomstick.

Unfortunately, Konohamaru was as stubborn as a mule and endured the beating Sakura had given him (Lee had tried to calm her down, but it took him a long time to accomplish it) and refused to leave his seat, saying that now that his 'Nii-chan was vulnerable and won't be able to move because of his fat stomach, he and the rest of Konohamaru corps would have to protect him (Naruto as well gave him the beating of his life when the younger genin had called him fat and vulnerable again). In the end, Sakura had lost the 'battle' and informed their parents about the so-called sleepover when she and Lee left (not after the pink-haired kunoichi had made them promise not to utter a word about Naruto's delicate situation).

"_Remember Naruto, try to sleep properly, ne? You would need to replenish your strength, especially if that baby will be as energetic as you. Drink the tea every morning as well, do you hear me?"_

And so, now sleeping in the middle of Naruto's not-so-spacious bedroom (they had even put Naruto's bed all the way to the far corner and it was still a bit cramped), they all laid down staring at the ceiling, snuggled in their sleeping bags. It seemed that sleep could not overcome them though.

"Ne… Sempai, I forgot to ask but… if you're the father of the baby… then, who's the other father?" Moegi asked, vaguely feeling the blond stiffening when she had mentioned it. "I mean, you don't have to answer but… you know…"

"Maybe next time, ne? We have more things to worry about…"

Konohamaru blinked in confused and cringed. "Like what? Do we have to get ready and buy diapers or something?"

A sigh escaped Naruto's lips again and put a hand over his abdomen. "No, you twit. I need to have a check up again soon…"

"So, why can't you just ask the Hokage? She's a medic-nin, isn't she?"

"You're forgetting the fact that the only people who knows about my _lovely_ situation right now are not exactly a lot, meaning the old hag doesn't know… and neither does that ero-jiji!"

Udon bit his lip and scrunched up his eyes, as he said, "Then, how did you managed to get a first check up?"

Naruto ran his hand through his silky locks of hair and yawned slightly. "I went to the Sand Village first before Ero-sennin and I came back here. I got checked by Temari… you remember her, right?"

"That crazy, bossy chick with that steel fan on her back?"

"Yeah, her."

Konohamaru shook his head and inwardly felt sorry for Naruto. He remembered Temari and her brothers; and he especially remembered the day where he almost got choked to death by one of them. It was the most terrifying thing in his life - aside from being almost groped by a drunken old man when he was in his Oiroke no jutsu form - and shuddered inwardly. However, if the blond really needed the check up then he would just have to face his fears (literally) and escort the blond to Sunagakure. "Then we'll go to Sand!"

The only girl in the team tried not to hit Konohamaru - since Naruto was blocking him - but instead grunted in anger and glared at the ceiling, as if it was Konohamaru personified. "You stupid prick! Do you even think before you act? If we leave, we'll get into trouble! And if we ask permission, then we would have to explain to Hokage-sama why do we need to go to the Hidden Village of Sand so badly!"

"We could lie to Hokage-sama, Moegi-chan… after all, she doesn't need to know the exact truth, right?"

"Lie? _Are you crazy, Udon-kun?_"

"**No**."

Konohamaru sat up and stared at the blond incredulously. He never really expected Naruto to refuse since almost every thing he did, he did it without a moment's hesitation.

"You're not going anywhere and we're definitely not going to Suna," Naruto replied as he closed his eyes to avoid the surprised look Konohamaru was giving him.

"Why not?"

"You'll be in danger, and I don't want to see you all dead."

Rolling his eyes, Konohamaru retorted back. "Being a shinobi is accepting the fact that they could die on every mission. Face it, Naruto-niichan. We'll protect you somehow and believe me, we're dragging you all the way to Sand even if we have drag you by the ear."

Giving a small smile, Naruto smacked the boy in the head and told the rest of his team to go to sleep. When he could hear the soft snores from the three genin, he silently stood up from his sleeping bag and went to the window that was situated on the living room.

**_He was here two weeks ago._** Kyuubi immediately told him when Naruto leaned his tanned forehead against the cold window glass. **_He concealed his chakra well, but I knew that it was the bastard's from a mile away._**

Frowning, Naruto closed his eyes slowly, seeing a pair of crimson eyes haunting him wherever he went.

"_You can't escape from me… you may as well surrender yourself to me, Naruto-kun. You can keep on running if you want, but all you're doing is stalling time…"_

_What did you think he wanted?_

_**Gee, I don't know… maybe your ass?**_

"Now is not the time to be playing games, you stupid fox… even if _he_ was here, then it must mean he's nearby…" Opening his eyes again, he left the window and lied down the couch. He could see the moonlight's reflection that was through the window and basking in the wall.

Suddenly sitting by the coffee table, a translucent, human-ish form appeared with its arms crossed and face looking grim with a bit of fangs protruding out of its mouth. Kyuubi opened his dark, red eyes and gave Naruto a questioning glance.

"What are you going to do now…?"

"I don't know."

Silence ensued the both of them, relishing the stillness around them. It was broken, though when Naruto sighed audibly.

"I wished Sasuke-teme was here though… when he was here, everything was so…"

"Simple?"

"Yeah…"

Kyuubi stood up from his seat and ruffled Naruto's blond hair, disappearing and coming back inside the deepest parts of Naruto's mind. The blond closed his eyes, sleepiness was finally taking over him and he was glad. Exhaustion was slowly seeping through his veins.

_**Sleep now, kit. We'll talk about this in the morning.**_

**Tsuzuku**

* * *

**Next Chapter:** In which the Sand siblings make their appearance, Itachi's reaction would finally be in the open, and Sakura breaks her promise.

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**Crystal:** So, did all my hard labour paid off? -gives a curious look- I sure hope so... it took me a long time to finish this chapter; as much as I love it, I also hate it (stupid writer's block...). Anyway, please be kind enough to leave a review and I will love you forever.

Until the next chapter, minna-san!


	5. Ch 4

**Crystal:** -coughs- Yeah... I know I said not all chapters are going to be long... but I couldn't resist! There were so many things to write... can you really blame me? -gives an adorable, chibi-eyed look- Anyway... this will be the last long chapter for now (-coughs- Unless something magically happens and turn my chapters into freakishly long ones) until after three to four chapters or so...

Aside from all of that, I simply thank everyone who reviewed, read and for **ChibiNekoSakura**... I am really sorry you had to put up with my unbeta'd chapters, but thank you for helping me avoid of making a complete ass of myself... -huggles everyone-

Have a happy reading!

**Warnings:** Yaoi, Language and M-Preg; and possible sexual contents as well. _You have been warned!_

**Disclaimer:** I don't own a-n-y-t-h-i-n-g.

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**Moments**

_Chapter Four: Centre of my Universe_

Moegi frowned as the burning sunlight hovered above her face, as they walked slowly to Sunagakure no Sato. According to the pink-haired medic-nin in training, Naruto was not to exert his chakra, despite the fact that he had a huge chakra reserve. He was to eat every day, and the food must include the four major food groups; and the blond had to get at least eight hours of sleep each day.

And he could never _leave_ the village until he finally confessed to Tsunade-sama about his predicament!

She knew how Sakura was overprotective of the brother she never had, and Moegi felt bad about letting her Naruto-sempai go but she was there, right? Konohamaru, Udon and she would protect the blond shinobi if something pursues them, right? '_Oh, who am I kidding? We're only genin… it would be a miracle if we get to the Sand Village safely._' She felt a tick on her forehead when she heard Konohamaru complained for the last umpteenth time about his stomach grumbling and in need of food.

'_I hope Sakura-sempai wouldn't kill us for this…_' she thought grimly. The three of them had completely broken her trust - well, the only female in the group knew Konohamaru could care less if the green-eyed female did not trust him because Moegi knew that even though they were technically colleagues and acquaintances, her best friend would take a millennia to build at least a small, thin line of trust towards the Haruno.

"Naruto-sempai… are we there yet?" she heard Udon asked in a raspy voice, disappointingly knowing that her other best friend finished all of his water supply an hour ago. "I really need to use the washroom."

When the blond had answered Udon's question, Moegi remembered how speechless Naruto was when they went straight to the Hokage a few days ago. Of course, he knew the three of them had made up their minds - although, the young kunoichi knew her heart was pounding in her chest so loud when they had asked for the Hokage's permission - but Moegi was sure he disagreed with their decision. She could not help but wonder why though; Naruto knew the three genin would risk their lives because they were shinobi, nevertheless, why did he sound worried, if not more terrified, when they all went to get permission to leave?

Looking from left to right, she gave a disappointed grunt when she realized that her water bottle was almost out of water and re-tied her hair as quickly as possible. Sweat was forming in her forehead and no matter how many times she wiped it off it was still forming. She was amazed at how Naruto could resist the heat, especially when the clothes he was wearing were all black. No sweat was forming on his forehead - his hitai-ate was now located at his bicep - and he seems to be lost in thought again.

Her eyes ventured over the bag the dark-clad shinobi was carrying - he absolutely refused and punched Konohamaru to the next oblivion when the younger shinobi had called him weak because of his condition - and curiosity took over her mind once again. Once again, because the days before their departure for Sunagakure, the blue-eyed blond had done something that would spark some interest even if it was a simple gesture.

_-- Flashback --_

_Right after going to the Hokage Tower, the rest of Naruto's students had excitedly gone back to their homes to pack for their journey. Much to their excitement, it was their first time leaving Konohagakure - thanks to their previous sensei - and they had never seen the life outside their own village by themselves. It did not take much for the three of them to pack - especially since they would not need any unnecessary things in their trip - and went straight to Naruto's apartment as if a pack of dogs were chasing them._

_Entering the door (the three had learnt that Naruto ever hardly locks his door - particularly because there were no valuables to steal in his apartment), they were surprised to see an empty living room and a silent ambiance. At first they thought Naruto had left without them, but when Konohamaru yelled the blond's name out loud the young genin found their mentor in his bedroom, still packing._

_Moegi was the first to notice the hitai-ate lying on the mattress. It was a peculiar head protector, with a line surging through the village symbol. At first she thought that the hitai-ate was Naruto's but the line represented of being a missing-nin and she knew that Naruto was as loyal as a dog when it came to Konoha so she knew it was not his. When she sat on his bed and lifted the object, she was surprised when he took it from her at lightning speed, as if he did not want her to touch it._

"_Ne, sempai… who's hitai-ate is that?" she asked, ignoring the puzzled looks she received from her friends._

_It took a while for Naruto to speak, until Moegi heard his voice. "It's… someone's. I was just holding it for him because the bastard was stupid enough to leave it," he replied and looked at it longingly, as if the head protector was the owner itself. She knew that it was the only explanation Naruto will share for the day so she left him alone to pack while dragging Konohamaru and Udon back into the living room by their ears._

_-- End Flashback -- _

'_Naruto-sempai's been doing that a lot lately…_' she thought when she saw the thoughtful gaze once more and gave a delighted smile when she and her team saw a glimpse of the gates of Sunagakure. They were still a few kilometres away, but at the sight of the gates made Moegi resilient to the heat and walked ahead until she was walking side by side with Naruto. It was surprising for her that despite the fact he was pregnant, Naruto could still walk ahead of them; but then again, the female genin was not surprised, after all the blond had a lot of stamina according to everyone who knew him.

Turning around, she gave a cheerful smile towards her now crawling best friends. "Konohamaru-kun! Udon-kun! Come on walk faster! I can already see the gate from here!" Still grinning cheerfully, she ignored the grumbles of her teammates and kept on walking; unaware that someone had started following them.

Meanwhile, Naruto frowned when he felt an extra chakra slowly following them from behind. His frown was a not a worried one, but merely an annoyed one. Why was he exactly following them, especially since it was no use because their pursuer knew that the blond could feel his chakra? Naruto could sense Kyuubi smirking and rolled his eyes. He motioned for his students to stop, ignoring the questioning looks they sent him.

"You do realize that stalking is illegal, right?" he said at nothing while his eyes shifted from left to right.

A short laugh echoed around them and just before Naruto could shift his eyes right in front again, Moegi let out a piercing yell.

--

Tsunade gave out a long, exaggerating yawn and stretched her arms widely as she finally finished the overloading paperwork that was sitting innocently on her desk. She was frustrated when she found out that Naruto had wanted to leave Konoha again (even though she had a feeling that Naruto was forced into wanting to leave, but dismissed the thought).

The slug Sannin gave a worried look outside the window as she saw the clouds passing by the blue sky. That weird gut instinct she was feeling for a while now had come back full force when the blond shinobi had come barging in her office with his students. Something about Naruto just screamed 'suspicious', but she perfectly well knew that Naruto did not do anything wrong.

Lines creased her forehead even more when she remembered the conversation she had with her surrogate little brother. In fact, Naruto had not even uttered a word when he and his students came into her office. The ones that did most of the talking were Konohamaru and Moegi, and all Naruto did was either nod in agreement, or shake in disagreement.

"_We want to leave Konoha, Hokage-sama!"_ Tsunade remembered her former sensei's grandson saying. It seemed that Naruto had wanted them to taste the life outside Konoha, to prepare them for the Chuunin exams his students worked so hard to finally take; unfortunately, the reason had not come out of Naruto's mouth, but merely from his students.

Aside from the oddness of it all, the blonde female also noticed Naruto's appearance. He seemed more tense, even more so when he came back. And again, much to her chagrin, Naruto had not let her see the seal in which where the nine-tailed fox demon resided. She knew he was hiding something and even though she respected Naruto's privacy - more or less - she wanted to poke and prod a little to know what was going on with him and the fox.

"A penny for your thoughts?" a voice interrupted her musings and saw Jiraiya lounging on the seat in front of her desk. "You know, I think you're really starting to take this Hokage thing a little bit too seriously."

Tsunade felt a tick on her forehead and tried not to give her former teammate a concussion; there were much more important things to discuss and she could always beat him up later. Giving a tired sigh, she crossed her arms and looked at Jiraiya with a serious gaze. "We need to talk."

"That much I know… considering your assistant practically dragged me by my hair," Jiraiya grumbled and held his head carefully. He was by the onsen again, as usual, peeping into the women's side for his research. He was practically in pure bliss, until Shizune had come into his hiding spot and started to drag him to the Hokage Tower.

Clearing his throat, Jiraiya gave her a confused look. "I thought you didn't want the brat to leave… so why did you give him permission?" It confused him to no end that Tsunade could make such a weird decision… much weirder than the one she had made before. Despite that she could make decisions unlike any other shinobi can (being a Hokage and all) it was selfish for her to have Naruto becoming a Jounin instructor and then giving him permission to leave with his students without his consent. Didn't the both of them give a promise to each other that they would look after Naruto and his well being together?

"Aside from the obvious topic, Jiraiya… why did you not tell me that you left Naruto for at least half a year when you were away? I thought you would have had more responsibility than that!" Tsunade exclaimed and slammed the palm of her hand on the desk. She had heard from a certain Chuunin sensei about Jiraiya's reckless behaviour, and it irked her to no end that Jiraiya had not changed one bit.

How could he just leave Naruto, especially when even though the blond still seemed to have a bundle of energy, he was breaking inside?

"I was going to tell you!"

"That's a load of bullshit, and you know it!"

Jiraiya clenched his fist and closed his eyes; a migraine was starting to form in his forehead. He knew it was hard to explain, after all… he doubted that she would believe him with the excuse he was going to give her. No matter, if Tsunade wanted the explanation, he would give it to her.

"Do you want to know why?"

Tsunade crossed her arms defiantly and nodded. She would not give up and would have his explanation by the end of the day, she would make sure of it. "Go on, and make sure to _not_ leave any details, understood?" She ignored his snort and narrowed her eyes.

"Come on, 'Nade. Have I ever left any details to anything I tell you?" Hearing the disgusted tone in her voice, Jiraiya smirked and leaned back into his seat and started to tell his story. "We've been travelling everywhere during the three years… you know that I had a few houses that I bought over the years," he paused and glared at the Hokage who rolled her eyes. "Anyway, while travelling and such we would stay in the said houses for a while, after all… walking from one place or another can get tiring and since the houses were a bit isolated, it would take some time to walk to the nearest village.

"The brat didn't mind when I would go to the village, after all… he had everything he needed in the house. He could train using Kage Bunshin, if he was bored he could summon Gamakichi as company and before when we arrived, he stocked on many ramen cups as possible so his stomach hunger was fulfilled. No one knew the exact locations of the houses except for him and I, so I never really thought anyone would take a second look on it - especially since the houses were not really properly looked after. So, from village to village we would do the same routine." He stopped and regained his breath from talking a lot.

Tsunade made an impatient sound at the back of her throat and asked Shizune to bring a bottle of liquor and two glasses, much to the exasperation of the assistant. When the dark-haired woman came back, the voluptuous blonde poured both herself and Jiraiya a glass and motioned him to continue. Thanking Tsunade and relishing the taste of his drink, Jiraiya continued on.

"Usually, I wouldn't go to the village and if I didn't leave, it would mean that I would spar with the brat, to see if he was actually training properly. Surprisingly, he was training… which lead to him knowing a few more jutsus - since it seemed that I actually had some scrolls in the houses that he could learn," he left the part where those scrolls were actually Tsunade's and had forgotten he borrowed it from her. "Everything was going fine… a year passed since then. And then, I don't know… some weird and nasty thing had happened…"

"Well? What happened?" Tsunade asked vehemently, whilst she tried to squish the urge to strangle the white-haired Sannin.

"It seems that even with our discreet travelling, the Akatsuki had quickly followed us. I was coming back from a village one time when two missing-nins had cornered me; they were looking for Naruto and was a bit confused that he was not there with me. They looked like newbies too, so I thought I could at least lose them, but I guess I underestimated them… Anyhow, it took me quite a while to lose them… hell, it took me months," he ignored the surprised look Tsunade gave him. "I know, I know… I'm losing my damn touch, and I could have easily lost them; but I don't know… it seemed that everywhere I went, they were just _right_ there!

"By the time I came back, it seemed that nothing changed and I was grateful, because during the times where the two Akatsuki bastards chased me, I had a feeling Uchiha Itachi was nearby, and I know he would do anything to get Naruto. The second year was heavily tiring… because every damn time we would stay and rest, the same people ambushed me and while everything was happening, I finally saw something change in Naruto. The brat started eating less and less of ramen and he seemed isolated. At first I thought Uchiha and his partner had gotten to him, but he was not in heavily mentally or physically injured."

"You mean… he was not under the Tsukuyomi? Even so, maybe they were there to spy on him!"

Rubbing his temples, Jiraiya drank another glass of liquor and gave Tsunade a dirty look. And he thought she was the smartest of them all. "Would you stop acting like an idiot?" He ignored the flaming glare she gave him and continued. "Uchiha and Hoshigaki would not just sit and spy on him when the opportunity was right in front of their faces! In fact, if there were a chance they would have probably abducted him already… Anyway, as the second year was coming into an end, the ambushes were frequently happening less and less now… although, I could have sworn that as the third year of our journey came, Naruto's behaviour is just… _absurd_. I knew he had matured a lot - hell, he hardly even called me Ero-sennin unless it was necessary - but by the time we reached another village, he told me that he wanted a new set of clothes. Of course I thought, 'Finally! After years of persuading him of getting rid of the orange menace…' but, I thought he would reach for a different kind of colour, not _black_!

"Training was harsh for him; and I was pretty sure that if I hadn't interfered at some of them, he would probably die of chakra exhaustion. He was practically killing himself! I was more cautious now, and always setting up traps around the perimeter when I would leave for the nearby village - the brat surprisingly forced me to leave from time to time for my research even though now with the Akatsuki following us, our safety - especially his - were my first priority. Every time I would come back… it looked like he changing more and more; his eyes were completely devoid of emotion, he brooded a lot when he thought he was alone, and he hardly ever smiled anymore. I tried asking him once, but he never answered me.

"I knew this behaviour would probably lead to something more destructive if we kept on going, so I suggested that we return here to Konoha. He didn't seemed to mind; in fact I think he looked relieved. Anyway, we were on our way back he suggested on visiting Sunagakure of all places and I agreed, much to my curiosity. Unfortunately… what the Kazekage, his sister and the brat were discussing was a complete mystery to me. I tried asking Naruto about it, but again he answered nothing and only told me to not worry about it," Jiraiya sighed and looked up at the ceiling. "That's all I know… For Naruto's side of the story… you should have asked him."

"Did… Did it look like he was hiding something?" Tsunade asked, who was surprisingly still sober especially since the bottle of liquor was two-thirds empty already. Her cheeks were flushed, but her voice did not slur at all.

Jiraiya frowned with thought and wracked his brain. "It looked like he was… up until now he still looked like he was hiding something. What do you think?"

"Of course I thought that! Every single day since he came back, all I could think of was why did he suddenly change! When the both of you left for the first time, he was still the same Naruto who smiles a lot, brags a lot and as reckless and irresponsible as you! Why then did he have to change when you left for the second time? Why?" enraged and consumed with alcohol, Tsunade started throwing things around, not even noticing that Jiraiya was dodging from place to place to avoid the objects that were thrown his way.

The blonde female did not even realize she started to sob until Jiraiya was forced to calm her down and gathered her into his arms as she exerted all the tears she collected over the years. Shizune heard all the commotion from next door and gasped at the sight of the messy office when she entered the room. Seeing the two Sannin sitting in the middle of the room, the medic-nin cautiously walked towards them and placed a gentle hand on Tsunade's shoulder as she kept on sobbing quietly on Jiraiya's shoulder.

A few minutes later, the tears stopped and the two noticed that their leader had finally closed her eyes, deep asleep with the tears clinging on her eyelashes and tearstains on her cheeks. Shizune gave the other Sannin a questionable glance as the both of them stood up carefully with Tsunade in Jiraiya's arms.

All Jiraiya said was, "Even the strongest shinobi has to cry to release their frustrations."

--

"What the hell are you doing here?" was the first thing he was greeted with when Naruto and his students entered the Hidden Village of Sand. Standing right in front of them was Temari and she looked none too pleased when she saw the blue eyes and blond hair of Naruto.

Naruto raised his eyebrow at the question and shrugged, while looking at his companions. Konohamaru and his friends seemed to be on edge, and how could they not? Their other companion had scared them to death with his sudden appearance and now he walked with them to Suna as if nothing was wrong. He looked back at Temari and said, "Hello to you too, Temari."

Their said companion laughed with mirth as he walked ahead of them and patted the blonde woman as he sauntered pass her. "Don't be so tense, 'Mari! No wonder why you don't have a boyfriend yet," he joked and dodged the punch Temari tried to give him.

"And you! Kankuro, didn't I tell you to look around outside the village? What the hell are you doing here?" she hissed at him. Much to her annoyance, Kankuro ignored her and kept on walking towards the Kazekage Tower. Temari looked back at Naruto and his companions, eyeing the fifteen-year-olds for the first time. "Your students, Uzumaki?"

"Hai."

"What are you doing here?" Temari gave him a questioning glance as she asked him again. She knew he wasn't here just for a pleasant visit - considering the last time he visited, she and Gaara found out that the blond vessel was _pregnant_ of all things - but she was not about to tell her that, the Sand nin wanted Naruto to admit it.

Naruto sighed and crossed his arms. He knew it wouldn't be this easy. "Kyuubi told me to come to you… I need another check up," he ignored the alarmed look Temari sent him when he mentioned the fox demon in front of the young genin.

Seeing as they were in a public place, Temari motioned them to follow her towards the Kazekage Tower. She nodded politely and greeted some of the villagers that bowed to her when they passed by. Normally, Gaara would have come right at the entrance when he could feel Naruto's chakra, but she knew her little brother had too much paperwork to finish.

Looking from the corner of her eye, she noticed the young ninjas again and smiled inwardly. Temari remembered them; the boy with the stupid looking face was the one who bumped into Kankuro in Konohagakure so many years ago and almost got strangled to death. It seemed that they had not changed one bit; they had a look of anxiety and were on the edge when she eyed them earlier. She wondered how the three of them found out about Naruto's condition, much less about the Kyuubi but she dismissed it, knowing the blond Leaf nin would just tell her later.

Entering the building, they were surprised to see Gaara waiting for them at the entrance. She smiled and ruffled his red hair - much to the secret amusement of Naruto and annoyance of Gaara - and motioned the others to come inside. "Otouto, I thought you had paperwork to finish," she stated while dragging Naruto by the arm and let him sit on one of the armchairs.

"Hn, I'm finished," was his reply as he kept on staring at Naruto.

Temari turned towards the younger shinobi. "I'm afraid the three of you would have to leave for this. Don't worry, I'm not going to do anything bad towards your sensei," she said, while ushering the three of them outside the waiting room. She closed the door and turned around, glaring at Naruto.

"You do realize that you could have simply told Tsunade-sama that you're pregnant and you would not had to come all the way here?" she stated, feeling a little annoyed at the all Naruto could do was stare at her impassively.

Naruto shrugged and closed his eyes. "Yeah, I could have… but you do realize that the old hag would kill me if she found out."

"_Hardly_," Temari said, but was interrupted when Kankuro suddenly entered Gaara's office. "Didn't I tell you to go and scout?" she demanded from her Kabuki-faced brother.

Kankuro gave a smirk and sat on the remaining armchair right beside Naruto and slouched. "No you didn't… and besides, I'm already done scouting. Everything's in place and nothing was disturbed… that Chuunin was just paranoid." He looked at the serious looks on his siblings and Naruto and raised an eyebrow. "Was there anything I missed? Why do you all look like somebody died?"

"Kankuro… please, get out," Temari said exasperatedly as she pointed towards the door. When he did not budge from his seat, she gave Gaara a pleading look, saying that she had other things to handle.

Gaara looked at his brother impassively. He knew he did not had to voice it out loud for Kankuro to take a hint that he was not wanted at the moment and gave a look of satisfaction when his brother had the same thought as him and left without a moment's hesitation. The Kabuki-faced man knew that even though Gaara was now tolerable, he could still get angry, and it was not very pleasant when he was.

Seeing her sibling out, Temari gave a sigh of relief and returned to glaring at Naruto. "What am I, a fucking medic-nin? You can't hide this anymore, Naruto! Just because we know this, and somehow your _students_ know this… you can't rely on us every single time! Tsunade-sama has the right to know, and you know it!" She was glad that the office was soundproofed; yelling these things aloud would not be perfect for their situation.

"Who else knows about the pregnancy, Uzumaki Naruto?" Gaara asked, as he leaned on the wall right across from Naruto and Temari. "I hardly doubt that your students are the only ones with the knowledge."

Naruto opened his eyes and gave a vague look of guilt. He knew Sakura would kill him for leaving - after all, she was one hundred percent _against_ it - and had a feeling that if she somehow found out, she'd leave Konoha right away and hunt him. "Aside from Konohamaru, Udon and Moegi… Sakura-chan and Lee know."

Temari raised and eyebrow in interest. "Wait… they know? I'm surprised Haruno has not beaten you into a pulp yet… I've heard that she has a temper as hot as the sun," she said while sharing a look with Gaara. "I'm even more surprised that she hadn't told Tsunade-sama yet either… is she not her apprentice?"

"Yeah… although, she didn't tell the old hag anything; she promised me."

"You know that promises were made to be broken."

Naruto gave a grim smile and closed his eyes. "…I know."

--

Kankuro grumbled as he sat down with his back hunched and face contorted into a frown. Of all the things they were talking about, he wanted to know too! Was this some sort of conspiracy? Were they planning for his demise? Opening his eyes, he saw three genin sitting right across from him and smirked inwardly. Oh he definitely remembered these three… especially the one in the middle who was trying to look fearless, but in fact the poor little boy was on the verge of peeing in his pants.

The other two on either side of said little boy was not fairing much any better as well. If Kankuro had not been sulking because he felt left out, he would have probably tormented them already. Giving them a weird glint, he stretched his arms, pretending to be bored.

"So, you're Uzumaki's students?" he started the conversation, feeling annoyed with all the silence that was surrounding the room. When the three of them nodded fervently, he smirked. "So, what brings you to Suna?"

"It's none of your business," the little boy in the middle spat out with an edgy tone in his voice. The girl on his right side however, gave an annoyed grunt and elbowed him for being so rude. She gave a small bow and apologized on behalf on her friend.

"Umm, uhh… you see, we can't really say it… right, Konohamaru-kun?" Ah, so the boy's name is Konohamaru, weird. Kankuro's smirk widened when he saw Konohamaru nod his head again.

Now he was getting somewhere. If he could not get the information he wanted from his _own_ siblings, he would get them from somewhere else; and that somewhere else is sitting right across from him. The younger shinobi sitting right across from him were so uneasy they'd crack under pressure.

He leaned back and had a 'bored' look in his face. "You see… that's where you're wrong. I totally know what's happening inside the room, and I was just wondering if you know."

The girl frowned and gave a confused look. "But… if you know what's going on, then why are you asking us in the first place?"

'_Damn_,' Kankuro cursed and tried to look innocent. He about to ask another question when a yell came from the office ("DAMN IT, UZUMAKI! DON'T MAKE THIS HARDER THAN IT LOOKS!") and gave a puzzled look when worried looks were exchange between the little pipsqueaks.

"D-Do you think Naruto-sempai's in pain…?"

"Udon-kun, 'Nii-chan's strong! Of course he wouldn't be in pain!"

"D-Demo… he's pregnant, and shouldn't pregnant people be handled with care?"

Hearing those words made Kankuro widen his eyes. He did not even seem to notice that the only girl in the room slapped the heads of her friends yelling at the top of her lungs how idiotic they could be. He did not even notice his siblings and Naruto leaving the office to see what the commotion was about until he saw the blond and yelled out, "You're pregnant!"

--

Naruto stared right back at Kankuro, who was giving him an intense look. Right beside the blond was Temari with an exasperating look on her face as she stared back and forth at her brother and the Kyuubi vessel. Gaara was leaning far off the other wall, watching the scene impassively even though there was a hint of amusement in his eyes. Konohamaru was sporting a black eye and a carrying a bag of ice that was carefully put on the lump on his head whilst Udon was wearing a band-aid on his nose and Moegi looking guilty and apologetic towards the blond male but when venturing her eyesight towards her two teammates, she gave them a dirty look.

"So… why wasn't I informed of this?" Kankuro started, as he gave a suspicious look at Temari and Naruto. He did not get a chance to give the suspicious look towards his brother because the wall Gaara was leaning on was behind him. "I mean, I'm trustworthy, aren't I?" He ignored Temari when she muttered, "Hardly."

"You weren't here at the time when Ero-sennin and I visited Suna, Kankuro…" Naruto patiently said, making the aforementioned had an irritated look in his face since he was not used to Naruto acting calm and rational. "And besides, we were going to tell you sooner… _right_, Temari? Gaara?"

Rolling her eyes, Temari nodded while the redhead shrugged. She did not really see what the problem was; Kankuro, who was satisfied with their answers, was just being a spoiled brat as usual. She turned towards Naruto while giving him a solemn look. The older shinobi was disappointed with Naruto; he hadn't been eating well (despite the fact that Sakura practically forced him to eat every day ever since she knew about the pregnancy), he hadn't been sleeping well and he was not relaxing despite him drinking the tea Sakura provided for him. Aside from everything, the baby was surprisingly okay.

"Naruto, since you're doing a poor job of taking care of yourself, I made you a list to do _every single day_ and you will follow that until it engraves in your head. You understand me?" Temari said while prodding the other blond with her finger. When he gave a small nod, she commenced on telling him how he should eat, the exercises he should do - since he wouldn't be able to train properly, the time he should sleep and the time he should wake up. Suffice it to say, it was making Naruto irate, even though he appreciated the gesture.

"Onee-san, I think Uzumaki Naruto and his students should rest for a while," Gaara said while leaving the room. "Kankuro will take care of their rooms… after all, you have your own genin team to look after."

"Hey! How come _you_ don't get to help?"

"Kankuro… just shut up for a while! Gaara has work of his own!" Temari rolled her eyes one more time and gave Naruto the paper where his to-do list was written. Patting his cheek and saying bye to her siblings and Naruto's students, the Sand kunoichi left the building to look for her own students.

--

There was something missing, the pink-haired kunoichi realized as she strolled down the streets. She had been busy for the past few days, since she hadn't done a lot of work back at the Hokage Tower for the past few weeks. Busy enough that she only had the time to drag her body back to her apartment, take long bath Lee prepared for her and getting a relaxing massage from her boyfriend.

She always told herself though to check up on Naruto before, during or after work hours, but exhaustion was creeping up to her every single day that Lee once had to carry her back home (not that she minded, of course). And so, when she went to her male best friend's apartment, she was not really expecting it to be empty when she knocked on the door.

Sakura had been knocking on the door for the past ten minutes until a neighbour of Naruto had come out and told her the place was empty for almost a week now.

Frowning and ignoring the feeling of dread that was forming at the pit of her stomach, she headed towards the training fields to see if any of their friends had seen the blond. She hoped nothing bad happened to him, especially since he was now carrying a new life within him. Even though she knew perfectly well that Naruto could take care of himself, and that he's strong enough to beat many opponents, he seems so… fragile and delicate right now (not that she dared admit it right into his face). She didn't know what to do if something bad happened to the male she considered as her brother.

The green-eyed female was relieved when she saw Neji and TenTen sparring and ran towards them.

"Neji-san! TenTen-chan!" she yelled, making the couple stop their kicks and punches with TenTen giving her a warm smile and Neji a small nod of acknowledge. "Ne, have you seen Naruto?" she inquired.

TenTen shook her head in apology as she tried to regain her breath. "Gomen nasai, Sakura-chan. I hadn't seen him anywhere… maybe he's in Ichiraku?" she suggested while thanking Neji when the Hyuuga gave her the water bottle.

Sakura shook her head; the feeling of anxiety was building up by the minute. "Naruto hardly ever goes to Ichiraku anymore… how about you, Neji-san? Have you seen him?"

"Likewise with TenTen. I had not seen him since last week, I believe," Neji replied whilst crossing his arms. He gave a thoughtful look and concentrated. He did not have a proper conversation with the blue-eyed shinobi ever since he came back from his mission. When he usually saw him though, the blond was always with his genin team and training them.

Though, he wondered why was he not a part of the training regime…

"Have you asked anybody else? Maybe he was with Shikamaru or Chouji or Kiba…" TenTen trailed off, when Sakura started to shake her head saying that both Shikamaru and Chouji had a mission and Kiba was spending a lot of time training his students. "Well… what about Lee-kun?"

"He went to a mission as well. He would be back tomorrow," biting her lip, Sakura crossed her arms and looked towards the Hokage Mountain and widened her eyes. Why had she not thought about it before? Resisting the urge to slap her forehead, she said goodbye to the both of them and headed towards the Hokage Tower. She didn't even hear TenTen saying, "We'll look for you if there's any news!"

Meanwhile, TenTen leaned her head on Neji's shoulder and sighed. She felt guilty for not telling Sakura that she had seen Naruto the day he left for Sunagakure with his students. When the blond saw her, he practically pleaded the weapon-using kunoichi to not tell Sakura that he was leaving; she agreed, albeit confused at his reason why he wanted to keep it as a secret from the green-eyed female.

"Did I do the right thing…?" she asked while looking up at her boyfriend's clear eyes. The only thing Neji did was grab her hand, squeezing it tightly and led back to the training field. Thinking about this would probably just make her worry and training should distract her for a bit.

--

"Tsunade-sama!" Sakura entered the Hokage's office only to find it messy all over the place. The only thing she saw aside from the overturned chairs, cluttered paper and cracked glass was Shizune, who was cleaning silently and looking a bit worried over something.

The assistant looked up and smiled tiredly when she saw her old friend's student. "Oh, Sakura you're here. Gomen ne, but Tsunade-sama is resting right now…" she said, as she continued on neatly stacking the finished paperwork on the Hokage's desk.

The pink-haired medic-nin in training entered the office further and started to help out the older woman. "What happened here? It looked like a hurricane had a party or something…" Sakura carefully picked up the broken glasses and placed them inside the garbage bags Shizune presented her with. It really was a mess in here; it seems as if somebody had tried to abduct the Godaime away, which took a very long time trying and failing miserably. "If I may ask again, Shizune-san… demo, what happened here?"

Shizune gave an exasperating look at the wall across from the Hokage's desk - which implies that the Fifth's room was next door - and smiled towards the pink-haired kunoichi. "It seemed like Tsunade-sama and Jiraiya-sama had another fight. I was surprised Jiraiya-sama left without any scratches on his face or any broken limbs at all…" She left out the part where they were talking about a certain blue-eyed blond. Shizune knew if the younger woman knew about Naruto leaving, she would clearly be furious (after all, Naruto hadn't said anything to Sakura about leaving… not even a goodbye).

Sakura gave a curious look at the news she found out. Usually when the two Sannin fight, Jiraiya had more or less injuries with him; it was quite peculiar to hear the white-haired 'author' not have any large bumps in the head or slap marks in the face. "How long has Tsunade-sama been sleeping?" she asked, while taking a broom and sweeping the smaller pieces of glass.

"Oh, just for an hour and a half so far… since she's been working non-stop for a while now, maybe letting her sleep for three more hours is all right. What do you think?"

"She deserves it."

They cleaned for a few more hours until someone had entered the office. Tsunade was finally awake. Rubbing her eyes, she saw two garbage bags right beside the door and her assistant and student resting up and drinking some tea. The Hokage didn't even know how she fell asleep, but she was glad she did; now she felt relaxed, despite the fact that there was a nagging feeling in her stomach…

"Tsunade-sama! How are you feeling?" Shizune asked as she poured some tea for the Sannin when she took a seat right across from Sakura.

Thanking her assistant, she relished the lukewarm drink as she took a sip. When she had woken up, a headache was pounding onto her temple like a nail was being hammered. She was fairly surprised at the neatness of her office as well. She remembered how she got angry with Jiraiya and started throwing things around. Sighing, Tsunade cradled her head and leaned on the armrest. "Where is Jiraiya?" she asked, wondering where her former teammate went.

"Jiraiya-sama came by a little earlier again to see if you had woken up, but when you hadn't he left again, saying he would be back later on," Shizune replied as she offered a slice of fruit towards Sakura who shook her head politely.

The pink-haired girl chewed her lip thoughtfully, while taking another drink of her tea. She knew asking the Hokage on the whereabouts of Naruto would be a bad idea - since she saw how stressed the blonde woman was even though she had taken a long nap - but she was very close to snapping and just yell Naruto's name at the top of her lungs. Earlier she had asked Shizune if she had seen Naruto, but the medic-nin avoided the question like it was the plague. She would either change the subject or ignore her altogether.

"Tsunade?" a voice came from the other side of the door and interrupted Sakura's thoughts as she was contemplating on whether she should ask the Hokage.

"I see you're finally awake," said Jiraiya as he entered the office with his hands in his pockets. He sat down on the last chair and nodded his head in acknowledgement at the other two. "Geez, did you know you looked like a retard when you were throwing things around?" he ignored the dirty glare the blonde gave him and smirked.

Sakura shared a nervous look with Shizune as the two Sannin bickered once again and took another sip of tea. She knew the only thing that would separate them from having a full-blown out war that would ruin the office again was news about Naruto.

Ignoring the feeling of trepidation surfacing through her, Sakura gathered up the courage and asked, "Umm, Tsunade-sama… etto, may I ask a question?" She was glad the Hokage stopped twitching and looked at her kindly.

"What is it, Sakura?"

"Umm, well… I was wondering… have you seen Naruto this past few days?" She was confused when the three people accompanying her exchanged looks. Did they know something she doesn't? "W-What's wrong?"

Tsunade sighed and clasped her hands together, placing them on the surface of the table. She knew she was not supposed to tell… but one way or another her student would have found out anyway and Tsunade wanted her student to from herself rather than other people who had bad intentions (not that Sakura would listen to them, considering she was a close friend to Naruto).

"Listen, Sakura… to tell you the truth, I'm not allowed to reveal this to you…" she started; fully knowing the pink-haired female was listening intently. "But, since you look like you would create a search mob to look for the brat… you need to know this."

Shizune bit her lip and looked at the brown-eyed woman in concern. Even though she had a complete faith towards Tsunade, she could not help but feel stressed. '_I just hope this is the right thing to do, Tsunade-sama…_'

"A few days ago, Naruto came to me with his students. It seems that he wanted Konohamaru, Udon and Moegi to learn the outside world, instead of just doing missions inside the village…"

'_Where is she going with this…? Don't tell me--_' Sakura's thoughts were disrupted when Tsunade cleared her throat to get her attention and continued.

"So, I gave him permission to leave Konohagakure once again… For nine months, he will train his students outside Konoha like the travelling he did with Jiraiya, only shorter."

The phrase 'For nine months' echoed inside Sakura's head as she heard the impending news the Hokage bestowed upon her. She could not even think or speak anymore; she just wanted this dream to be over, or at least let it be some prank. A stupid, cruel prank both Naruto and Konohamaru created to see her flustered with worry; then she could beat the two of them up (Konohamaru most of all because she was afraid she would hurt the unborn child if she punched Naruto).

Why did he hide this from her…? Was it because she disapproved of him leaving? Of course she was greatly against it! The green-eyed kunoichi knew Naruto was independent, and he did not need any kind of assistance whatsoever, but still! With his condition, there was a great risk of him miscarrying the child!

'_I know he was strong… and he was not a liability that if he was touched he would break… he could've at least told me… I know I would have disagreed but somehow he would have pleaded and annoyed me until I said yes!_' She snorted softly, as she stared at her shaking hands. '_What am I saying…? The old Naruto would have done that, but this is a new Naruto we're talking about…_'

The other occupants in the room looked at Sakura in perplexity. They knew Sakura would be ballistic if she found out, but they never expected her to take it calmly (albeit she started to shake a minute earlier).

Tsunade gave her a kind look and poured her student another cup of tea. She did not know what else to say to her. The brown-eyed woman was surprised, however, when Sakura gave a soft chuckle; in fact, she, Jiraiya and Shizune gave her a curious glance.

Why was she laughing?

"Naruto no baka…" Sakura whispered as she wringed her wrists that were situated on her lap. "Leaving Konoha again, without saying goodbye… When I find him, I'm going to kill that idiot… slowly and painfully…" Although she was angry - a simple level of anger was even an understatement - at her former teammate, she could not help but feel scared for him.

What if Akatsuki had found out once again that he left Konoha?

What if they were ambushed already?

Or worse…

What if the blond saw Sasuke once again…?

Subconsciously clenching her fists, Sakura knew that even if Naruto's personality changed he still kept his promise on bringing Sasuke back, despite the fact that she hoped the promise was finally buried, left alone while she and the blond would move on and forget the Uchiha. She more or less did that, with the help of Lee, and was merely worried for an acquaintance now.

Naruto, on the other hand, left for the second time to train, get stronger and look for the dark-haired shinobi… just because of that promise. That stupid promise she made him keep. If it weren't for that promise, maybe none of this would have happened…

If it weren't for that promise, Naruto would not had left for three years and he would have stayed here and moved on with her…

He would not had changed drastically; he would still be the obnoxious blond playing pranks and stuffing his stomach with ramen…

He would not be pregnant, but instead he would settle down, find a nice girl and get _her_ pregnant instead…

'_I'm sorry, Naruto… it's all my fault…_' Sakura thought, not feeling a tear escaping from her eye. Wiping her eyes to make the welling tears disappear, she looked up fiercely at the confused and worried looks the elder peers had given her.

"Tsunade-sama… there's also something I want to say."

"Err, yes… what is it?"

'_Gomen nasai, Naruto… but I will make things right again…_'

Taking a deep breath, she looked at her squarely in the eye, a look of secrecy in her own green orbs. "You should had not let Naruto leave Konoha again…" she started, while ignoring the loud thumping of her heart.

The Hokage raised her eyebrow in interest and crossed her arms. "Oh? And why is that?"

'_You don't have to carry your own burdens anymore…_'

"Because… you should not have let a pregnant person leave, especially when a delicate child is being form inside of them." Sakura watched intensely when Jiraiya spat out the tea he was drinking, and how Tsunade and Shizune gave her a shocked, yet doubtful looks in their eyes.

"What you're saying is preposterous!"

"Then why wouldn't Naruto let you check the seal…? Why was he not training when he came back? Because, if I know Naruto… every chance he gets he would train from sunrise to sunset…"

'_And if I make things right… Tsunade-sama and the others must know…_'

Tsunade closed her eyes and rubbed her temples furiously. Pregnant? How could it be so? She knew Naruto had a chance of getting pregnant because of Kyuubi, but nevertheless… she knew Naruto would never, _ever_… She knew he was hiding something… but something this big? Did Jiraiya even know this? Opening her eyes once again, she already found her answer when the white-haired Sannin gave a stunned look towards the Haruno. "If he really was pregnant, then how come he did not tell either Jiraiya or I?" she asked.

"He was afraid… he was afraid that you would not take this nicely - or as normally as he would hope it to be…" Sakura replied while giving a rueful smile. "When he told me, Tsunade-sama… he cried. And Naruto _never_ cries…"

'_That idiotic brat_,' both Jiraiya and Tsunade thought. The two of them would had been shocked, yes, but they would never be angry; sure, they would be mad - especially Jiraiya, considering this happened under his nose right all along - but they would do everything in their power to help the blond!

"Who else knew?" Shizune managed to ask, as she stared at the pink-haired future medic-nin faintly.

Before Sakura could reply, Tsunade gave a surprising laugh. "Let me guess," she said, while leaning on the table. "His good-for-nothing students knew, right?" When Sakura nodded, Tsunade laughed again until her eye started to twitch.

Standing straight, Tsunade went over to her desk and sat properly, as if she was ready to do business. "Jiraiya, gather every shinobi whom Naruto trusts the most," she ordered, grateful that Jiraiya immediately left. "We're tracking the brat down… even if we have to tie him up and lock him in a chakra-surged room, he _will_ be staying back here in Konoha."

Her brown eyes looked at Sakura. "I'm disappointed with you Sakura… with something as urgent as this, you should have told me…"

"I promised him, Tsunade-sama."

"You broke it anyway."

"…I know."

'_And if he found out, Naruto would _never_ forgive me… but nevertheless…_' Sakura stood up and bowed to the leader of Konoha and left the room silently, as if nothing had happened.

'_I'm sorry, Naruto… for everything_.'

--

"_I… I'm… Pregnant."_

"_How many weeks…?"_

"_Five Weeks."_

Itachi frowned as he remembered the conversation he overheard a few weeks ago. It had been weeks already, and those stupid words just kept on plaguing in his mind like a catchy song. It had also been disrupting his performance, making the emotionless missing-nin feel irritated for once.

The worse part was that most of the Akatsuki missing-nin were noticing it as well. Just yesterday, Kisame had asked him if anything was wrong. Of course he had not said anything, but he knew that the shark-faced man doubted him.

Sharpening his last kunai, he stood up and looked at the full moon. The rest of the Akatsuki either went to missions or getting themselves drunk off their asses, while he stood outside the cave entrance and was sharpening his weapons. Kisame and Deidara were inside, no doubt discussing on how to get the Kyuubi. Just thinking of the nine-tailed fox demon made him think of the blond shinobi he had mercilessly pursued.

If one had asked him hypothecally if the reason he was pursuing the blond was because he had feelings for him, Itachi would have probably used the Tsukuyomi on the aforementioned one for wasting his time. But to tell the truth, he did feel something for Uzumaki Naruto…

Lust.

Possessiveness.

Greed.

At first, the only reason he chased the blue-eyed male around was because he wanted to break Naruto inwardly. He had the knowledge of the blond being headstrong and stubborn; Itachi wanted that to crumble into pieces. Then as he continued his cruel routine, he realized that his little brother's hatred for him would increase… considering as much as Sasuke hated to admit it, the blond had crawled into his defences undetected, and the younger Uchiha would let his hatred grow if the elder Uchiha continued to 'visit' Naruto…

But, as the days, weeks, and months went by… he hated the fact that Naruto would do anything to get Sasuke back. It was peculiar for him because Uchiha Itachi was heartless… emotionless, and yet with the simple utter from Naruto about his dearest little brother, it felt as if he wanted Sasuke out of the picture. Out of Naruto's life.

When he found out about the blond's predicament, he knew had to do something about it but what? He could not risk entering Konoha again without being detected, and the worse part was that if the Akatsuki leader found out about the unborn child…

Shaking his head, he entered back inside the cave, ignoring the looks Kisame and Deidara sent him. He sat down at the far end of the tunnel where it was isolated and closed his eyes, hiding the terrifying crimson orbs.

It was then an idea came into his mind… and for some reason he could careless about obtaining the Kyuubi any longer. The fox demon be damned, he had much more important matters to attend to.

Now, Uchiha Itachi had only one mission to do:

Kill Uzumaki Naruto and the unborn child he could consider as his own.

**Tsuzuku**

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**Next Chapter:** In which we take a look into the past, and see what really want to see...

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**Crystal:** ...Umm, well... that was quite different from what I expected... -laughs nervously and ignores the sounds of a mob forming- Uhh, I hope you guys enjoyed the chapter and... I will see you all soon! Don't forget to review! -runs away from the screaming mob-


	6. Interlude 1

**Crystal:** Err... an 'I'm sorry' is not going to cut it, is it? -fidgets in her swivel chair- Anyway, if anyone is listening - err, reading, I have good excuses. Projects being assigned, tests being written, volunteer events that I needed to do, procrastination taking over my body (gosh, it sounded like I was being possessed... heh -scratches the back of her head and smiles sheepishly-), etc etc.

ANYWAY! After two months of being in the dark - wow, two months? - I'm finally back! Thank you for those who reviewed, read and waited **_patiently_**. I seriously thank you guys from the bottom of my heart. And **ChibiNekoSakura**... you have the utmost patience that I surely lack. Thank you again! -huggles-

Umm, is there anything else... Oh yes! As compensation for my tardiness... I've left something _lime-ish_ for you guys. Hope you enjoy? -smiles uneasily-

Have a happy reading!

**Warnings: **Yaoi, Language and M-Preg; and sexual contents as well. _You have been warned! **Seriously!**_

**Disclaimer:** I don't own Naruto and even if I did, I would probably be six feet under already thanks to some people... -gives a narrowed look towards them-

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**Moments**

_Interlude One: As it began_

With a long, exaggerated sigh, a young boy with tuft of blond hair and clear blue eyes waved farewell once again to the place he called home. Naruto gave a huge grin towards the Old Hag, Shizune and his two former teachers who were standing in the entrance gates and yelled excitingly to the white-haired Sannin he thought as mentor to hurry it up.

They were going away from Konohagakure again, to train and travel. Surprisingly enough, the old hag had agreed to let him come with Jiraiya again as much as she hated for him to leave. Naruto inwardly rolled his eyes at the Fifth Hokage's refusal and reluctant agreement. He knew the reason she did not want him to leave was because of Akatsuki, but he could handle himself just fine! She was just worrying too much, as always. Maybe that was why he could finally see grey hairs in her blonde hair (but he would not dare say it out loud).

Besides, it was not as if all they were going to do was train, travel and make sure the pervert of a Sannin would not get into trouble… they were also leaving because they were going to find out any information they can muster about Sasuke and Otogakure (even though Jiraiya had no idea they were going to do that…). He had made a promise to Sakura, and he would sure damn keep it.

Jumping from tree to tree, Naruto gave inhaled deeply and looked up at the cloudless, blue sky. He gave a foxy grin as he thought of Shikamaru getting annoyed because there were no clouds to see. Even though he had already left Konoha once for a long period of time, he could never get used to long distant trips; it made him homesick. But, he was used to it now… and it was not as if he would not come back anyway.

The blond hopped off the last tree branch and started walking beside Jiraiya, who in turn gave a curious look towards him. To tell the truth, Naruto had no idea where they were going. He wouldn't really think they would visit the previous areas they stayed in the last time he and the pervert took off, so what was Jiraiya up to?

"Ne… Ero-sennin… where are we actually going?" he asked as he put his orange-clad arms behind his head. Naruto relished the sun's rays as he gave an irritated look towards the toad Sannin when Jiraiya shrugged his arms.

Trust the stupid pervert to not know where they were actually headed.

Naruto sighed, and looked straight at the road they were walking on, surprisingly not annoyed by how quiet it was right now. Normally, the silence would annoy him to death… but right now if felt kind of nice.

Even though he was still brash, loud, and reckless, Naruto had matured a bit. Sure, even though he was still careless and always attacking on an impulse without actually thinking things thoroughly, he now finally used his noggin while fighting - thus passing the Chuunin exams with flying colours two months prior to his journey - despite the fact it was only _sometimes_ he'd actually use his head to think up of a strategy.

He grew stronger - both physically and mentally - and he never let his emotions interfere with his battles unless it was deemed necessary to do so. But he still had more things to learn, more people to meet… and a certain person to retrieve.

It was funny… as Naruto kept on reminding himself about the promise he kept for his female best friend, it sounded like he was promising himself. He snorted inwardly and crossed his arms, narrowing his eyes ahead.

The heat of the sun must have been frying his brain already. Sure, he missed the bastard but somehow inferring the promise he was keeping was actually intended for him was completely ridiculous!

'_The sunlight _must_ be really frying my brain cells…_' he dreadfully thought. Luckily, he spotted a willow tree and persistently annoyed Jiraiya to take a break until the man smacked him in the forehead just to shut him up.

Sitting under the shade… Naruto gave a relaxing sigh as he lay down at the soft grass, ignoring the grumbling of his partner.

Meanwhile, Jiraiya frowned as he looked around the area and heaved an annoyed grunt as he reluctantly sat beside the blond. They should not be dillydallying and should start walking again if they want to be in the next village quickly. As much as it seemed calm and quiet right now, he knew that the Akatsuki would find out that Naruto was once again out of Konoha and they would make another attempt at kidnapping him.

With staying at a village, they could at least buy the necessary things they needed (like food, for instance) and have an actual bed to sleep in - not to mention a certain onsen so the white-haired 'author' could have inspiration for his novels - until they finally arrived at their supposed vicinity.

Jiraiya grimaced when he remembered about his lack of speech earlier on when the brat had asked him where they were temporarily going to stay. He was going to have an earful, that's for sure. Besides, it was not like he did not want him to know… it was because there might be people who were listening and saying confidential things like that wouldn't really be confidential if certain people - namely the Akatsuki… - would find out where they were staying.

He looked at Naruto who'd fallen asleep apparently - damn, brat - and shook his head exasperatedly. Jiraiya knew what he was trying to do… the reason Naruto wanted to come with him again, and he would _not_ allow it.

Tsunade knew it too, that was why she downright refused when Naruto came barging into her office and pleaded her for him to leave with the white-haired Sannin (even though both Sannin knew that Naruto would deny everything if one questioned him if he actually pleaded to the Godaime Hokage).

Looking at the blue sky, Jiraiya knew that even though the sun was still up and shining, the sun would set soon. Giving the oblivious blond an evil glint, the white-haired shinobi stood up and loomed over Naruto, who had no idea of the impending doom that was coming to his way.

--

"Mou, you didn't have to punch me that _hard_, Ero-sennin…" Naruto grumbled as he rubbed the forming lump on his head whilst seeing their destination.

It was a quaint, medium-sized village; it did not have any luxurious buildings and it also did not have a lot of people living there, but the aura was warm and welcoming. Despite the fact that the sun was setting all ready, children were still out and about, playing and laughing in the streets. Women were chatting quietly with each other, trading secret recipes and gossips.

Naruto sighed contentedly at the peaceful-looking area and gave a forlorn look when realized that they would only be staying in the village for a day or two. He wouldn't mind if they stayed a little longer. It looked so calm, and for all he knew even with a medium-sized village the Akatsuki would overlook this village when they search for him and the perverted hermit.

As if Jiraiya was poking and prodding into his mind, the white-haired Sannin snorted in disagreement and closed his eyes. "We cannot stay in this village, brat. It's too dangerous."

"Why can't we stay? This village is not that big - no offence - and I don't really think those bastards would come here looking for us… And would you stop reading my mind? It's bad enough the stupid fox is in my head already…" pouted the blond as he crossed his arms. He ignored the grumbling of Kyuubi and widened his eyes with delight when he saw a ramen stand at the far corner of the street. "Waaah, Ero-sennin! Can we eat there?"

Shaking his head, Jiraiya nodded his head instinctively, wondering how the blue-eyed shinobi could change moods faster than a pregnant woman. He watched Naruto as he ran straight to the stand, furiously shoving the flap away and scaring the cook by sitting on the stool like an eager puppy.

"Ne, Ojii-san! Do you have an extra large bowl of miso ramen?" eagerly asked Naruto as Jiraiya finally arrived the stand and sat next to his student. As he watched the cook nodding his head hesitantly (after all, he had not seen a customer _this_ excited about ramen before), the Toad Sannin ignored the twitching of his eye, knowing that half the money he had brought would be quickly dispersed thanks to the blond's whelping appetite.

He supposed seeing Naruto happy was worth it, if not annoying. There were times where he had heard that Naruto was spending less time pulling pranks on the villagers and he felt disturbed by it. That or the brat was finally maturing (but he doubted the latter).

"Give me another extra bowl, Ojii-san!"

Yes, he now _definitely_ doubted that Naruto was growing up and taking adulthood seriously (but Jiraiya would never admit it aloud, considering an orange-clad male, a voluptuous 'old hag' and a clan of frogs would call him a hypocrite). Jiraiya gave a bored sigh and turned around so his back was facing the counter. Looking at the blue sky, his forehead creased, calculating how many hours it would take to finish all of the errands they need to do before they could rest.

"Oii, Ero-sennin. Where would we stay for the night?" Naruto asked, as he took out the vegetables from his ramen carefully. "I mean, if we would stay here then we should at least go to an inn first and check to see if there are any rooms available."

"We should have… but some brat with a black hole for a stomach wanted to eat first so…" Jiraiya gave his blond companion a look and smirked when Naruto started scowling. Getting off his seat, he left Naruto, saying he would look for an inn for them to stay on. As he exited the ramen stand and suddenly gave a lecherous gaze towards a small group of women who were walking off towards the nearby bathhouse.

'_But then again… I suppose the inn could wait a while…_' he thought while snickering quietly and stealthily followed the women. Naruto saw the little ordeal his so-called mentor had and snorted loudly as he slurped his noodles. The old geezer was such a pervert that even after all these years he had known him, the blonde still did not get what was so fascinating at peeking in the bathhouse.

After eating his eleventh bowl, Naruto gave a thankful praise towards the cook and paid him - with Ero-sennin's money, of course - and left the ramen stand, taking a peaceful stroll as he walked down the streets. He knew Jiraiya wouldn't be looking for an inn right at the moment - considering he had a perverted look earlier and started looking for an onsen instead - so he took the responsibility of searching a place where they could rest for the night.

He felt uncomfortable when people started staring at him as he walked down the street. He was used to it, definitely, but this time… the looks he was receiving were pure curiosity. The blond had been under these stares before - in his previous missions - however, he was stunned that a semi-successful village has not seen an actual shinobi before.

Children stopped playing and looked at his head protector as if it was the most fascinating thing in the world. Naruto gave them a goofy smile and kept on walking, beaming when he saw the inn.

The inn was fairly small, with only two floors, but it had a welcoming atmosphere (just like everything else in the village). A few lights were open on the second floor, making Naruto think that there were still a few rooms available. He entered the building, seeing a lady from behind a desk.

"Ne, Nee-chan, do you have anymore rooms available?" Naruto asked, as he tried to stifle a yawn. Was he really that tired? He barely heard what the lady had said as he tried to stretch his arms.

"Why yes we do… how many rooms do you need?"

Looking at the wallet Jiraiya reluctantly gave him, Naruto smiled gleefully when he saw that there was enough money for him and the perverted hermit to have different rooms. He was about to put two fingers up in the air when he realized that Jiraiya was still at the onsen, making his nose bleed to death… and the blond could not leave the inn. What if other people took the remaining rooms? He refused to sleep outside without a decent sleeping bag.

'_Too bad Ero-sennin… I guess you'll just have to sleep outside tonight…_' Naruto inwardly cackled, ignoring the disgruntled snorts from Kyuubi, who was resting from a long, boring day.

"Just one, Nee-chan!"

--

It was quiet.

Too quiet.

She realized that as the stars and the moon came out and covered the sky. Looking down at the village, she saw the lights illuminating the streets and houses, knowing that the villagers had not even noticed that a certain person left Konoha again. There would be no pranks, no gleeful laughter… hell, there wouldn't be _any_ nagging of her treating said person to ramen.

Sakura sighed as she crossed her arms and placed them over her legs as she sat on top of the Hokage Mountain. She was alone once again. Okay, so maybe not _alone_, but still. As much as she thought of Naruto being a complete idiot, he was the only one who understood of what she was going through. A few years have passed now, of course, but she still felt like she was the only person who thought that _something_ was wrong.

It did not bother her as much - since there _was_ someone who was _still_ persistent in courting her (even after all these years), but quickly forgetting the shattered memories and dreams she used to have was like Kiba hating dogs or Shino killing insects.

_It was not possible._

The pink-haired female then bristled at the thought of Naruto not saying goodbye to her. What was wrong with him? She was his teammate, his female best friend, and his surrogate sister… and yet he had the nerve to tell her and the rest of their friends something important and then left without saying anything else?

"How could he be so selfish…" she mumbled under her breath, not noticing that she had company with her.

"Are you sure that he's selfish, Sakura?" a voice from behind her asked, making the kunoichi startled.

She turned around and saw Neji leaning against a tree with his eyes closed and arms crossed. Sakura gave a half-smile and looked back at the village. She was surprised that he found her… after all, only certain people knew where this place was. But then again… Neji was a skilled shinobi, and had no problems whatsoever about tracking someone.

"Of course not… Naruto's the most selfless person I know… demo, he should have at least waited for our responses before leaving Konoha…" she replied, as she lowered her head that it touched her arms.

"Che, what a drag. Sakura, do you honestly think Naruto would stick around if somehow we started thinking that he's disgusting?" Shikamaru came out of the shadows with the infamous bored look in his face. "And I thought you were smart… Ino forced me out here for nothing then."

Closing her eyes, Sakura smiled again and stood up from the ground. Dusting her skirt, she walked towards the two men and started walking beside them as they headed back towards civilization. She supposed Shikamaru was right… even though Naruto had a cheerful façade gallivanting on his face, there were times where she would see a whole different side of him.

But if Naruto did thought of that… then the green-eyed girl gave the blue-eyed male too much credit when it came to simple logic. Honestly… did he really think they were closed-minded people like the villagers they were trying to protect?

The three shinobi walked near a certain ramen stand, seeing the rest of their friends occupying the seats. Sakura smiled sheepishly as she saw ten bowls sitting innocently near where Chouji was sitting.

"Sakura-san! Sakura-san! Come over here, I saved you seat!" Lee enthusiastically said as he patted a stool next to him.

Sakura just smiled and thanked the dark-haired Taijutsu specialist as she ordered a small bowl of ramen. It was odd for all of them eat at the same exact restaurant her blond teammate adored, especially since said blond was not even there to enjoy the meal.

'_Hope you come back soon… you idiot._'

Meanwhile, in the Hokage tower, Tsunade sat behind her desk as she watched the night sky from her window. She carefully patted Tonton who was sleeping soundly on her lap.

She would kill Jiraiya as soon as she saw him again and then after burying his old body, she would kill Naruto next. How could the both of them team up and somehow persuade her to allow the blond to leave? She knew as the Hokage she overruled their decisions - no matter how much pleading and begging they could do - but Tsunade knew in her heart that she could not just say 'no' to Naruto (even though she knew there was a limit). It was a different matter towards Jiraiya, but with Naruto there…

Where would they stay, first of all? They could not just sleep in the outdoors and setting up traps would be pointless since the ninjas that were pursuing them were elite.

And aside from the Akatsuki ordeal, she knew the only reason Naruto would leave Konoha that desperately was because of Uchiha Sasuke.

What was so special about him? Tsunade wondered. The brown-eyed Sannin knew it wasn't because Sasuke was a genius… a heartthrob… because Naruto hated those kinds of people. There must be something, anything…

"_He was my first friend… my best friend."_

"_He chose to hate me… instead of listening to other people and be biased by their feelings…"_

"_He and I are the same… we are both orphans… we know how it feels to be alone, even if he doesn't show it well…"_

She sighed and closed her eyes, hearing the same sentences over and over in her head. Definitely she did not know how Naruto felt, but she knew he and the Uchiha were two different people.

Sasuke chose to be self-destructive… and as for Naruto, he had a choice to be like that too but instead he chose to be optimistic and hoping.

"Naruto's strong, he'll be fine."

She turned around calmly and saw Kakashi leaning against the doorway. Tsunade knew he was standing there for quite a while, so she wasn't startled when he started talking. Sighing again, she stopped patting the little pig on her lap and acknowledged the masked shinobi. "I know… but you _do_ know the reason why he wanted to leave, correct?"

Kakashi walked further into the office and crossed his arms over his chest. Surprisingly he was not reading or merely holding his precious orange book; his eye had a bemused look into his eyes and nodded his head.

Of course he knew the reason, he was Naruto's Jounin instructor after all. He could see the guilt in those blue eyes; the fact that he thought it was his fault that Sasuke left Konoha. There were at times Kakashi almost smacked the blond for thinking such a thing but he knew it wouldn't have made any difference. His thoughts would remain the same until he had fulfilled his promise.

"Iruka's… not taking it very well," he finally said after a few minutes of silence. Before he arrived at Tsunade's office, he was with Iruka, who was looking despondent after they had seen Naruto's fading silhouette earlier in the afternoon.

Tsunade felt sympathy towards the Chuunin sensei and only nodded quietly. She knew how Iruka was feeling, after all, if she loved Naruto like a brother then Iruka must have loved the blue-eyed prankster like a son he never had. How would Iruka feel if he found out that his 'son' was abducted and killed by one of the most dangerous organization in the world? Surely it would kill Iruka inside…

"Look out for him, Kakashi. Company would be best suited for Iruka, don't you think?" Tsunade said, feeling amused when a slight surprise overcame the masked shinobi's visible eye. She was not the leader of the village for nothing…

"H-Hai, Hokage-sama…"

--

It was early in the morning, Naruto realized when he sleepily sat up from his futon. The sun was barely rising from the horizon, only its rays peeking in through the mountains. A few people were awake, only getting ready for a busy day ahead of them. Even the hosts of the inn were probably still asleep, knowing that none of their patrons were wide awake and ready for a hearty breakfast.

The blond went back to snuggling into his blankets, feeling a cool, rush of air through the slightly opened window and tried to fall back asleep. Fate, however, was not on his side, so despite the fact that he closed his eyes, turned a few times to get a comfortable spot and sighed at the softness of his pillow, Naruto was now fully awake - albeit very tired and restless - and ready to start his day.

Childishly pouting and sitting up, the blue-eyed Chuunin stretched his arms as he deeply yawned. He rubbed his eyes and crawled out of the futon, continuing to crawl through the bathroom. When he arrived there, he used his arms to pull himself up and looked at the reflection staring back at him.

His blond hair was dishevelled - even more so - and there were faint bags under his eyes (bloodshot eyes). There were drool marks on the sides of his mouth and he basically looked like the un-dead.

Naruto opened the faucet and quickly washed his face, scrubbing off the eye crust from his eyes and drool marks on his chin. With his eyes closed, he groped for a towel the inn kindly provided and rubbed his face with it. Quickly running out to his room to retrieve the small comb he always brings, he tried to make his unruly hair neat only not succeeding properly.

He looked into his reflection again to see a cheerfully smiling blond with vibrant blue eyes and whiskered cheeks. His eyes were no longer bloodshot, no drool marks were visible on the sides of his mouth and his hair was still fairly unruly - yet it looked perfect for the blue-eyed shinobi. He left the bathroom and with a record speed, cleaned up the futon, folding it properly and putting it back at the closet.

The blond wore his regular jumpsuit - after sleeping only with his black undershirt and boxers - and wore his necklace, safely tucking it inside the clothing. Tying and adjusting the leaf hitai-ate on his forehead, Naruto gave a foxy grin and carefully left his room, knowing that people were still sleeping (he had a great deal of respect towards the people who sleep, after all… everybody needed some shuteye and don't you hate it when someone walks in the hallways like some madman, stomping like a gorilla and you're trying to get some sleep?).

He hastily put his sandals on and exited through the inn's entrance, pouting once again when he took notice of the closed stores and restaurants, specifically the ramen stand he ate at yesterday.

He had been looking forward to eat a bowl or two as well!

Naruto grumbled and walked nevertheless down the streets, shivering slightly when a small breeze passed through him. Putting his hands in his pockets, he inhaled deeply and strolled down, looking for a small clearing.

Just because he was as hungry as a horse, it does not mean he would shirk out to training!

Nodding confidently, he kept a sharp eye for a pseudo-training field where he could spar against his Kage Bunshin. Even though it had only been a day where he had not trained yet, Naruto felt like his muscles were turning into flab. If somehow the stupid hermit pervert found out he had been slacking in his training, there was a great possibility of Jiraiya kicking his sorry ass (using Gamabunta as leverage) all the way back to Konoha.

'_Speaking of Ero-sennin… where is he anyway?_' the blond wondered, as he crossed his arms and gave an annoyed sigh. Knowing his stupid mentor, the lecher was either drunk yesterday and now has a hangover, or he was locked up in a prison because he was making a ruckus - while drunk - and started groping the waitresses that were working there. Naruto was even sure that regardless of Jiraiya being a legendary Sannin, he was still going to be behind the bars for being wasted and creating havoc in the night.

Giving another sigh, Naruto gleefully beamed when he saw the pseudo-training field he was looking for. He supposed training would have to come first before eating breakfast, searching for the white-haired Sannin, buying necessary items and heading towards… wherever Jiraiya was supposed to take him.

Positioning his hands to the usual seal for his favourite attack, Naruto yelled, "Kage Bunshin no jutsu!" Three exact replicas of him appeared with a small pop and smoke, standing side-by-side and ready to take orders.

"Okay! Time for training, minna! You know what to do!" the blond took two kunais from his holster and spun them around as the other Naruto's did the same thing. Giving his usual cocky grin, the original Naruto went straight for the middle Bunshin and tried to stab him, using the other kunai in his hand as he dodge the third Bunshin's attack.

Naruto flipped backwards to avoid the first Bunshin's kick and landed on his feet, using his hand as a leverage to keep from skidding too far from the ground. He threw both of the kunais he was holding towards two of the carbon copies and showered the third one with shuriken.

When he heard a sound of popping, Naruto snickered triumphantly and turned around to see two Bunshin left, panting as they stared at the original, ready to fight once again. A few more hours passed, with Naruto not even noticing that it was almost lunchtime since he was focused on his training.

Gasping slightly and cursing that he had forgotten to get a water bottle, Naruto unceremoniously fell down on his back and breathed deeply. Trails of sweat were pouring down on his forehead and his hair was getting soaked because of it. He suddenly felt his stomach grumble and groaned, remembering that he hadn't eaten breakfast this morning and it seemed that he was going to forgo lunch as well since he was tired to go back to the village.

"You know… I'm really tempted on not sharing this _delicious_ ramen…" a loud voice bellowed from the trees, making Naruto sit up quickly and inhaling the scent of ramen that quickly entered the area. He looked around for a bit where the smell was coming from until he saw a blur of white standing above the tree branches, clutching a bag of miso ramen for two.

It seemed that Jiraiya finally arrived from wherever the hell he had stayed from during the night. Although it looked like he slept in the alley, it was nice - albeit odd for him - to buy the blond Chuunin ramen. Didn't he say he was getting sick by just looking at the noodles?

"You looked like an army of cats mauled you, Ero-sennin. Where the heck were you?" Naruto asked as he watched the Sannin jumped down from the tree and walked towards him with an annoyed look on his face.

Jiraiya gave a gleeful snort when Naruto started sulking when he raised his arm (the one holding the ramen) out of reach and smirked. "For your information, brat, an army of cats did _not_ maul me." He ignored Naruto ("I said you _looked_ like it… not that you were _actually_ mauled… stupid lecher…") and continued talking, "I was abandoned by a certain _someone_ and left me out in the cold streets to sleep because I barely had enough money to go to an inn…"

"How'd you get the ramen then?"

"The cook took pity on me when he saw me near his ramen stand and thought I was a beggar… can you believe that idiot? A great ninja and super pervert like myself would _not_ be a beggar! I'm too great for that!"

Naruto ignored the conceited laughing of his 'mentor' and gave a triumphant grin when Jiraiya finally gave him the bag and rapidly opened it as he inhaled the delicious aroma of his favourite food. Taking out the wrapped, plastic bowl carefully and snapping the wooden chopsticks apart, he started eating the noodles at a fast pace. He ignored the weird looks Jiraiya sent him and he slurped some broth.

"So, where are we going next, Ero-sennin?"

Jiraiya promptly ignored him and took out his 'research' book and started jotting down some ideas as he remembered his peeking time from yesterday. Naruto gawked at the lecherous glint in the white-haired man's eyes as he giggled like a schoolgirl and kept on writing.

The blond sighed and stared at the now empty ramen bowl. It would take hours for Jiraiya to have a writer's block…

--

"This is where we would be staying…?" Naruto bluntly asked as he stared at the building right in front of him.

Jiraiya ignored the odd looks from his young charge and nostalgically grinned at the sight. "Yep… ain't she a beauty?" he sighed as he walked ahead of Naruto, fishing out an old brass key from his pocket and unlocking the lock that was put on the door (he also had taken out a few traps and seals from the building). "Mind you, we would only be staying here for a while… and since I own quite a lot of these beauties, we would be staying in them as we travel further on."

"Your point? What about supplies…? And what about my precious ramen? Is there even a television in there? Any form of entertainment? And how come we never used this when we went travelling the last time?"

Ignoring the tick that was forming on his forehead, Jiraiya walked back out of the house and helped the blond carry the bags they had bought earlier from the village and into the house.

The house itself was not a grand mansion with many servants. It was at least two stories high (Naruto was not quite sure) and the interior of the building was spacious. The furniture inside was covered with white cloths to prevent dusts from ruining them and thick curtains were covering the windows (and to his relief, there was a television there). Said furniture looked antique, much to Naruto's surprise. He didn't even know Ero-sennin owned these kinds of things!

"Ne, Ero-sennin… for a cheap freeloader, you sure own things that look expensive. Are you sure you didn't steal them?" Naruto asked as he pulled a white cloth off a glass-windowed cabinet when he entered the den, coughing slightly at the dust that was collected on the surface of the cloth. He winced when Jiraiya smacked him and dropped the cloth to pat his head, which was forming a bump.

"Ignorant Brat! Just because I don't have money with me often doesn't mean I'm poor! With being a great author and an awesome shinobi, I think indulging myself would be best, don't you think?" Jiraiya sighed once more as he started to take off the cloths, cringing slightly at the dust flying around. "Now, as your first task… you will sweep the floors and wipe the windows until they squeak cleanliness, wakarimashita ka?"

"NANI? Why won't _you_ do it? You own the stupid house!" the blond grumbled as he crossed his arms defiantly and tried to give the older shinobi a menacing glare. He was there for the training, not for being a damn maid! When Jiraiya did not budge and continued to look at him with irritation in his eyes, Naruto huffed and picked up the groceries, looking for the kitchen so he could prepare himself some ramen.

The house looked small from the outside but as Naruto walked towards the series of hallways, he realized that one could get lost in here. It was like a freakin' labyrinth with minus the deadly traps (unless Ero-sennin had installed them). Sliding one door open, he noticed that he arrived in the dining room and his eyes lightened inconsiderably when the blond thought the kitchen was getting closer.

Passing by the furniture that he thought was a table - since it was again covered with a white cloth, Naruto hummed an incessant tune as he looked back over his shoulder once in a while for any signs of Jiraiya. Knowing the old geezer, Jiraiya would probably end up punching the back of his head because of earlier. He gave a triumphant grin when he finally arrived in the kitchen, dumping his carried goods on the counter. He opened the cabinets, in search of a kettle to boil the water in and did not even notice the owner of the house enter the kitchen until he was smacked in the head.

"ITAI!"

"You ungrateful brat! Unless you want to pay for your rent and food, you will do the chores!"

Naruto caressed the bump that was forming underneath his blond locks and tried to glare at his so-called mentor as he took the kettle he found from one of the cabinets. This was abuse! "Ero-sennin, I need my daily dose of ramen!" he exclaimed as he went straight to the sink and opened the faucet. Unfortunately, no matter how much Naruto tried to turn the 'offending' object, no water came out. "Uhh… Ero-sennin, your sink's broken…"

Jiraiya felt proud of himself when he found out he had a little self-control left for not beating the boy into a bloody pulp - after all, if he had done so he would have to face the wrath of Tsunade - and merely had a tick in his forehead. "That was I've been trying to tell you Naruto…" he gritted out patiently, while rubbing his temples. "The sinks both in the kitchen and bathrooms are disconnected from the main pipe!"

Naruto gave the white-haired man a dumbfounded look while clutching the kettle hard. No water? Then how the hell was he supposed to eat ramen? And if Jiraiya wanted him to mop the floors and wash the windows, where was he supposed to get the water? "Ero-sennin… if there's no water, then how am I supposed to clean?" he asked, whilst slamming the kettle on the counter. He yelped when Jiraiya picked him up by the collar and threw him outside the back door.

"There's a water pump somewhere out there. Here's a bucket and have fun getting the water!" Jiraiya threw the pail at his direction cheerfully and walked away from the kitchen and heading towards the bedroom he was going to be sleeping in.

The blond Chuunin gawked at the closed door and cursed the Toad Sannin inwardly. He feverishly picked up the bucket - he glared at the offending object when he realized that it was only medium-sized and would not be enough to clean the entire house.

After flipping the building as if it was Jiraiya personified, Naruto turned around to see a vast clear grass field, perfect for training. Trees surrounded it and a huge tree stump was in the centre of the field that looked perfect for kunai and shuriken aiming, as well as for practising Taijutsu.

Naruto started walking across the field, shivering slightly when a huge rush of wind passed by him. He looked up to the sky and frowned when the rays of the setting sun was mixing with the blue hue of the atmosphere. It seemed the day had passed by without the blond even realizing it and Naruto knew it did not take _that_ long for him and Jiraiya to find the Sannin's house.

Looking throughout his surroundings, he narrowed his eyes and subconsciously rubbed his arms (he had taken off his jacket earlier because he was feeling warm), cursing slightly that he had forgotten his jacket in the kitchen counter. He knew he couldn't go back there because Jiraiya would just kick him out again. Aside from that, he could not help but feel he was not alone.

It felt like somebody was watching him… which made no sense at all since his mentor had told him nobody knew the location of this place except for Tsunade, the Sandaime and the Yondaime. Ignoring his newfound feeling of paranoia, Naruto managed to find the water pump and started gathering the water.

Besides, it was just probably the new sense of staying in a different surrounding, he decided.

'_Yeah… that's probably it._'

--

Naruto scowled as he stared at the retreating back of Jiraiya. The nerve of that perverted asshole… leaving him here in this creepy house! He huffed as he slammed the door and stomped into the den, jumped into the sofa with his arms crossed over his chest and a sulky pout on his mouth.

They had been staying here for almost a painful year now. Painful because all the blond ever did was clean the house; whether it was mopping the floors, wiping the windows or cleaning the gutters, Jiraiya made sure Naruto cleaned them all. And while the younger shinobi was busy keeping the place spic-and-span, the Toad Sannin just sat on his futon in his room or on the fluffy armchair in the den writing his stupid novel or drinking sake while watching R-rated movies and laughing like a moronic drunken bastard. To think… he owned this house too!

The only thing that kept him sane was his training and usually he was only the one doing it on his own. Usually, Jiraiya would come and spar with him but most of the time the white-haired shinobi would leave the house and go to the nearby village to get drunk elsewhere and probably use his shinobi skills to disgracefully peek into the women's side of the bathhouse. The only company he ever had was Gamakichi, whom he accidentally summoned one time and appeared every now and then (without being summoned), asking the blond Chuunin to play with him.

Blue eyes peered slightly at the dark corridors outside the den and leaned back into the couch, and grabbed a throw pillow that was sitting innocently beside him. For the past months Naruto had stayed in Jiraiya's 'vacation house', he still could not shake off the feeling of being watched. He told Jiraiya about this and they did search all around the area of any suspicious accounts, but they found nothing.

Jiraiya had thought he was being delirious, but he was still cautious for his charge's safety and had told him to keep a sharp eye around when he was either training or simply lying around doing nothing.

It did not help either when Naruto saw the dark, grey clouds looming over the sky right outside the window, meaning there was a storm arriving soon. Gulping slightly, he shook his head and laughed nervously as he looked for the remote control of the television. He knew he was afraid of storms (he still _is_, but that was not the point), but a few little dark, menacing clouds would not scare him! He was a shinobi after all, and no stupid looking clouds could scare the shit out of him.

Now feeling a little confident, the blond turned on the appliance and started surfing over channels, looking for something interesting to watch. Hearing his stomach grumble once more, Naruto stood up from the comforts of his seat and turned on the volume to maximum, walking towards the kitchen to cook himself some ramen (he found out that there was an easier way to go to the kitchen without walking through the long hallways).

Putting some water into the kettle - Jiraiya had somehow miraculously fixed the kitchen and bathroom sinks a week ago, and to think all these months the blond had to pump the water out in the back! - Naruto opened one of the cabinets and looked curiously at the ramen cups with different flavourings. He chewed his bottom lip, unable to choose which flavour he wanted to eat next. Randomly choosing the extra-flavoured miso one, Naruto happily placed it on the counter and leaned against it, listening to the loud music that was coming out of the television from the next room over.

After pouring the hot water unto the cup and waiting for the long three-minute wait, Naruto picked up a pair of chopsticks from the utensil drawer and strolled back into the den, carefully sitting down so the broth would not spill.

'_I miss Ichiraku's ramen…_' he sighed and slurped some noodles while his eyes fixated on the TV screen. He gulped the rest of the broth and placed the ramen cup and chopsticks on the side-table as he stretched his limbs for sitting at an uncomfortable position.

Naruto looked outside the window, and cringed when he saw the rain started pouring already. He could hear the noise the thunder was producing, making him jump up in surprise and clutch his chest like he was going to have a heart attack. He quickly went back to the kitchen and almost ran straight into the back door, clicking the locks in place. Then he went into the sink and locked the window that was placed on top of said sink.

"Stupid Jiraiya… leaving me here alone just because he suddenly had a writer's block! Didn't he even realize that the village is at least almost two days away?" the blue-eyed male grumbled as he ventured into the entrance hallway, and checked to see if he locked the front door closed.

He sighed with relief and happily sauntered back into the den, not even realizing a minute later that the loud noises coming from the television had mysteriously disappeared and every single light had been turned off. "WHAT THE FU - OUCH!" he yelled as he accidentally bumped into the leg of a table when he came skidding into the den.

'_The stupid storm knocked out the electricity…_' he numbly thought as he hopped all the way into the sofa, using the pillow as a makeshift shield. He knew that if Jiraiya was here, the Toad Sannin would have smacked him and called him a coward, but he didn't care! Staying at this creepy house all alone… somebody was bound to be paranoid! Especially since there were sounds coming from upstairs!

'_Wait… sounds?'_ his eyes widened at the realization as he heard a few ruffling sounds above him. Albeit it was a fairly small sound, but with Naruto's sensitive hearing he was able to hear it. He knew that it could have been just rats - as Jiraiya failed to mention and the blond had to learn the hard way when he was cleaning - but it did not sound like the usual scuttling or squeaks. '_Maybe it's Ero-sennin… actually making fun of me because he knows I hate power failures!_' he thought, furiously fuming at the thought of the perverted shinobi giving him an evil laugh at the sight him being scared.

"ERO-SENNIN, THIS ISN'T FUNNY ANYMORE! STOP IT ALREADY!" he hollered, while getting off the sofa and climbed up the stairs, the feeling of fear mostly out of his system. He turned to his left and entered each room, peering to each one as if Jiraiya was hiding in them.

The last room was the white-haired Sannin's own bedroom, and Naruto stood right in front of it, staring at the closed door with an angered look on his eyes. He kicked the door open and saw…

Nothing.

The room was quite messy with crumpled pieces of papers all around the floor and an unmade futon on the far corner of the bedroom, but there was no sign of the older man. It reeked like sake in here that Naruto had to pinch his nose in disgust as he entered the room.

He slid open the closet doors to find Jiraiya's clothing and nothing else. The blond even checked for a faint chakra signature of his mentor but there was none. Frowning deeply, Naruto was about leave when a shot of pain suddenly came to his stomach and back as if somebody had punched him; he keeled over, falling to his knees at the pain.

He was about to look up, when darkness literally came to him and his vision was blurred.

Naruto fainted without even realizing it.

--

Bleary blue eyes slowly opened as the thunder rumbled once again in the dark, rainy sky. Naruto blinked a little and then winced at the pain that lingered in his abdomen; he started coughing slightly when it took a while for him to breathe. A few minutes earlier he realized that both his hands were bound and he was tied in a star figure where his arms and legs were all over the place. His mouth was also gagged as well, so when he tried to talk all that came out from his mouth were muffled sounds.

He did not know where in the house was he, mainly because the place was so dark that one would think they were in the dungeons. He shivered slightly when he felt the temperature dropped, suddenly realizing that he was only wearing his boxers and _nothing else_.

Naruto did not even realize that the one who had bound and gagged him slowly entered the room, until he felt cold hands slowly caressing his chest. He tried squirming away - after all, it felt like the _dead_ was touching him - but the ropes that were tightly holding him prevented the blond from moving away. The hands kept on caressing him, making him close his eyes tightly at the touch and groaning involuntarily.

Fingers made way towards his nipples and a hot mouth attached itself into his neck, nipping violently at the tender flesh as the unknown person's digits pinched the nubs on his chest. The blond had never felt like this before and he didn't want to feel like this! It felt wrong, and he didn't even knew who the hell was trying to - he gasped when one of the hands started going lower and lower until it stopped right in front of his groin.

His body was betraying him… as the hand ghosted over his boxer shorts, he felt his cock become sensitive to the touch and started to harden. Naruto tried to contact Kyuubi - hoping to find some answers as to who the _fuck_ was touching him in a violated way - but he could not hear the deep, growl of the demon he was hosting.

"Mmph…" he whimpered when the lips that were sucking his neck came to his one of his earlobes and started sucking the tender flesh sensually. The hand kneaded his groin, earning a pleased yet unwanted moan coming out of Naruto's muffled mouth. Tears of frustration came into eyes as the unknown person continued to touch him sexually and his body mindlessly bucked on its own, trying to find more contact.

The blond heard of fabric ripping and gasped when he felt a cold breeze of air making contact around his lower regions. He furiously tried to free himself, but he was pinned to the wall, and the body of his unknown assailant continued their ministrations.

He wanted this to stop now… but no matter how much he hated it, it felt so good! Especially when a calloused hand had grabbed a hold of his erection and started pumping him feverishly. His body tried to buck again, desperate for a more intimate contact, but his assailant refused his wishes.

The hot mouth that was continuing to leave bites in his neck started going lower down to his chest and started sucking one of his nipples, driving Naruto into the edge he had never felt before. "Aughhh…" he groaned, lifting his head up with unwanted pleasure. He shivered when his sweaty body came in contact with the cold air and almost screamed when he felt a tight heat closed around him.

Naruto felt the bobbing of the person's head as they kept on sucking him to the said person's heart content. The blond knew since he had no experience whatsoever, he was close to his orgasm. His fists clenched and his toes curled as the calloused hands came in contact with his butt cheeks and squeezed it tightly, making Naruto moan with pleasure once more.

The last suck was unbearable to the blond youth as he came hard, seeing blinding white lights underneath his eyelids. He panted harshly, and his half-lidded eyes stared at nothing until the same calloused hand grabbed his chin gently and lifted his head up slowly.

He couldn't see the face of the unknown person but when the lightning gave a strike and its light went through the window, Naruto saw a pair of deadly crimson orbs and pale face staring at him blankly with no emotion coming through his eyes.

Naruto was about to muffle the name… but his eyelids closed in exhaustion and fell into an uncomfortable slumber.

The next morning, Naruto grudgingly woke up to the sunlight peering through the open window. The storm had passed and now a cloudless sky came to greet him a lovely morning. Suddenly, memories from the night after came back flooding to his head as Naruto shot up with his eyes wide in shock.

Gone were the ropes that clung onto his wrists and ankles tightly and he was wearing a black shirt and boxer shorts. He was sitting in his futon in the middle of his bedroom. No signs of him being bound and gagged from last night… but it all felt so real.

"Was it all a dream…?" he wondered as he shook his head in confusion. Everything, from the touches, the pleasure… it felt _real_. He knew he couldn't have dreamt this. He stared at his wrists and ankles, seeing no bruised marks on them. He quickly ran into the bathroom and looked at the mirror, seeing his reflection.

His eyes were bloodshot and his hair was more dishevelled than before. He arched his neck slightly upwards to see if there were any bruised marks but all he saw was a perfect complexion of his tanned skin.

He remembered the crimson eyes that were staring at him… creases were formed in his forehead as Naruto exited the bathroom and came downstairs. Everything was still in place just like yesterday. His frowned grew deeper when realized something…

That feeling of being watched was gone, disappeared just like that.

'_How odd…_'

**Tsuzuku**

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**Next Chapter:** In which we return back to the present, two people are meeting once again and the search for Naruto begins.

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**Crystal:** Heh, so how was it? I'm not fairly sure when the next interlude will be out, so expect the unexpected. Aside from that, uhh... gee, I can't really think up of whatelse to say... just, review and make this girl happy? Again, I'm not sure when my next update will be... but knowing myself, it would probably be at the end of my school year (YOSH! Ten more days until school is over (though, suffice it to say, my exam days doesn't count on that...)! -runs a hundred laps with Rock Lee around Konoha-) or something like that.

Until next the next update! Ja ne!


	7. Ch 5

**Crystal:** Yatta, I'm back! -gives a huge grin- I would make this author's note short for this chapter because I know that **ALL** of you are dying to read the chapter. I'm not going to put any excuses whatsoever right now because I _know_ that I'm late in updating... -the huge grin turns into a sheepish one- Anyway...

**THANK YOU** to all of my reviewers and readers who have taken their time to slowly scroll down and read the fic and also kindly leaving comments/encouragements! I would also like to thank: **StarsOfYaoi **(for helping me capture my angsty-side by recommending a whole bunch of things) and **ChibiNekoSakura** (for helping me beta this fic)! I owe you guys a whole bunch of stuff! -huggles everybody-

And **one more thing** before you guys start reading: one of the sections at the near-end of the chapter has certain paragraphs that are specially _italicize_. That means that these paragraphs are happening **AT THE SAME TIME** as the non-italicize paragraphs take place! It sounds kind of confusing (with the way I'm explaining it -laughs nervously-), but it'll probably make more sense if you read it. If not, then just send me a review/email/comment at my LJ and I could try and explain it to you better -smiles cheerfully- Enjoy!

**Warnings:** Yaoi, Language and M-Preg; not to mention sexual contents as well. _You have been warned!_

**Disclaimer:** I do not own Naruto or any of its characters. However, I do have plushies and keychains... does that count? -has a confused/hopeful look-

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**Moments**

_Chapter Five: Once Again_

When Sasuke returned to Otogakure, he never expected for Orochimaru or Kabuto to be waiting for him. In fact, even though he was a renowned shinobi in the Village of Sound - not to mention, Orochimaru's golden boy - the Snake Sannin and his devoted follower would not wait for him even if an important news has reached their ears. So when he entered the main chambers, he could not help but be a little curious as to why they were waiting for him impatiently.

"Ah… Sasuke-kun, welcome back," Orochimaru hissed while he opened his arms as if he was going to hug the younger shinobi. "I trust that you had a nice trip away from home?"

Sasuke did not reply and just stared back at the pale-face of his mentor. After stopping for gathering information about his blond former teammate from other villages, he had stayed away from Otogakure to train himself in the wilderness; somehow, even if he trained twenty-four seven inside of borders of Sound Village, he was still not satisfied. At least with training in a different environment, the feeling would be unpredictable, like how one would really actually feel when they were in a battle.

He noticed that Orochimaru seemed pleased at something, but he was not sure what it was. Recently, there was nothing anybody did to make the Sannin satisfied. The past few weeks as Sasuke remembered were full of painful screams because of those incompetent idiots that Kabuto had recruited had somehow crossed Orochimaru's path the wrong way.

His blank gaze then turned towards Kabuto and saw that he had an interested look on his face. Sasuke knew that troubles were brewing in different directions, and soon a war will take place. And during those past weeks, Sasuke was confident enough to say that Kabuto had been wearing a stressed look ever since.

"One of my spies had told me something important, Sasuke-kun," Orochimaru said, while gesturing him to sit in one of the vacant chairs. "Please come have a seat, Kabuto can order one of the servants to make you some tea."

As if on cue, Kabuto bowed at his master and left the room when the older shinobi had implied that he wanted to speak with Sasuke alone. The dark-eyed young man stiffly sat on the seat he was offered at and crossed his arms.

Six years… he had been here in Otogakure for that vast amount of time. The Uchiha knew that Orochimaru has been impatient, wanting to take over his body as soon as possible. He has had a lot of chances, but Sasuke somehow managed to stir him away from the subject. He was sure - or at least he thought it was - that the conversation they were going to have was not about his body or anything relating to his Sharingan.

Perhaps he found out that Sasuke left to look for information about his former blond teammate? Not likely, in Sasuke's opinion. Orochimaru might be a genius like him, but there was no way he could have figure out that the reason he left hastily was because he found something that concerned his former teammate. In fact, the Uchiha knew the only thing that was running through his so-called _mentor_'s head was to quickly take over his body.

"It seems to me that Konohagakure's Uzumaki Naruto has returned from another one of his three year excursion with Jiraiya," with these words, Sasuke invisibly tensed as he cursed himself from not being discreet. Fortunately enough, the golden-eyed man hadn't noticed him and kept on speaking. "Only to leave again weeks later but this time with a bunch of brats instead of that moron Jiraiya…" Orochimaru trailed off as he heard a faint knock from outside the room. "You can come in, Kabuto, I'm sure Sasuke-kun is parched from his trip."

Hearing that he was granted permission, Kabuto entered the room with a servant following behind him, carrying a tray of tea with dango as a snack. The servant kneeled down on the tatami mat and poured three cups of tea, giving one of each to Sasuke, Orochimaru and Kabuto. Giving a small bow, the said servant left the room donned with silence.

Sipping his tea slowly, Sasuke kept his gaze on the table surface, knowing that he was being watched by the two shinobi. Thankfully, the deities were in his favour because they were persuaded by his 'nonchalant' attitude when he heard the news Orochimaru bestowed upon him. Inside though he was brimming with uninvited curiosity (which rarely - up to the point of being nonexistent - happens), why would the Snake Sannin suddenly be interested with the blond dobe? He remembered how the older shinobi had gritted his teeth with pure hatred towards the blue-eyed male because of his influence with the Uchiha. Surely there was no way Orochimaru would have a change of heart towards his former teammate?

"Suffice it to say, it was even more interesting to hear how much that little blond midget has _grown_," Orochimaru continued, making sure that his voice was soaking with sarcasm. "He seemed to be fond of wearing black… a huge colour change since he was disgustingly obsessed with the colour orange."

"Hn…" Sasuke finally looked up and stared at his _mentor_. With no doubt about it, there was something Orochimaru was keeping from him that was about Naruto. His golden eyes glinted as if whatever happened to the blond, it would affect him entirely in ways he could never imagine.

From the corner of his eye, Sasuke noticed - and was faintly surprised - that Kabuto was only listening intently at his master's one-sided conversation. Usually, Kabuto would speak his opinion every now and then, often butting in every time Sasuke and Orochimaru were talking (or lack of thereof).

Orochimaru tipped his cup and took a one last drink before licking his lips and gave an ill-humoured smile. Placing the cup back on the tray, he exchanged glances with the glass-eyed medic-nin (which the Uchiha did not fail to ignore) and stared back at his prized student. "What was more interesting, Sasuke-kun… was that while my spy was gathering this information for me… he also told me something or at least someone was also spying on Naruto-kun right before he left…"

He raised his eyebrow at the information - after all, if he continued to act like this did not concern him, they would get suspicious - and silently urged the long-haired Sannin to continue, suddenly feeling a something at the pit of his stomach. He had a hunch on who was spying on the dunce, and he could feel his blood boiling underneath his skin, the darkness and shadows clouding his mind… he knew only one person who could make him feel this way…

"It seems like Uchiha Itachi has taken a different interest towards our 'favourite' blond… aside from him being a Jinchuuriki of course…" The fact that Sasuke knew the blond was the vessel of the Kyuubi no Youko did not faze the Sharingan user at all (since Orochimaru had 'accidentally' let it slipped during one of their training sessions a few years back) but the fact that Orochimaru was implying - of all things - that his _elder brother_ was attracted to the usuratonkachi actually made his mask slip for a second.

Despite the obvious implications that the pale-faced leader made, Sasuke was sure the so-called spy of his was delusional. After all, no matter how much he hated Itachi, he was the only one who knew him. The Mangekyou Sharingan user was an emotionless bastard and not even physical attraction could deter him. Perhaps the shark-faced partner of his was around as well?

But the way Orochimaru made it sound… to Sasuke if felt like Itachi was alone when he was staring at Naruto; Hoshigaki Kisame was not in the vicinity and it seemed like Itachi had ditched his partner in favour of checking up on the blue-eyed male.

"I quite assure you, Sasuke-kun… my spy was not delirious when he saw this bit of data…" Orochimaru gave him a leering smile and poured another cup of tea for himself. "I was even surprised that your _elder brother_ had not felt my spy's chakra…"

The dark-haired prodigy cussed inwardly when the golden-eyed man said this. He drank his tea again until he took a deep breath and gave his _mentor_ a blank gaze. "Orochimaru-sama… I fail to see what your point is…" he finally said after a few minutes on contemplating. On the inside, Sasuke was on the verge of destroying something; something was not quite right… he knew that Itachi had something to do with the way Naruto had changed, but the equation was still not solved. The way the blond was now dressing… the disturbance in his chakra fluctuations… if there was something going on between those two… he knew there would be hell to pay.

"Orochimaru-sama's point, Sasuke-kun, is that… he has a mission for you," Kabuto finally spoke, as his eyes carefully looked at Sasuke's blank expression. "I will provide the details for you right now, in fact." He took out a scroll and unwound it, as he peered through the contents.

"With this mission, Sasuke-kun, make sure you do a thorough job," Orochimaru said as he stood up from where he was sitting. He walked through the shelf that was located in the back and pulled out a book, which opened a secret passage. "I have no doubt in your skills, so I know you will finish it as quick as possible."

Sasuke's eyes narrowed slightly at the retreating figure of the elder shinobi and turned his attention towards the glass-eyed man. Kabuto cleared his throat quietly and commenced on telling the Uchiha his mission. "Seeing as Uzumaki Naruto has left Konoha once again, the Akatsuki would be hot on his trails again to steal the Kyuubi from him. Your job is to find Naruto-kun before that blasted organization does and make sure that no one, not even his brats would know that you've abducted him."

Kabuto knew that his master's apprentice was surprised, if not shocked, that he was ordered to search for the blond even if his expression did not reveal it. "At first, Orochimaru-sama had wanted for you to… eradicate Naruto-kun at first, but we found something that's unnaturally exceptional about him that will help our leader with something…" he trailed off, feeling secretive all of a sudden.

The Uchiha frowned slightly at the mention of Orochimaru wanting him to kill his once best friend. The Sannin knew the reason Sasuke didn't kill Naruto was because he refused the have the Mangekyou Sharingan like his elder brother wanted and did not pursue him with the subject no longer. He motioned the grey-haired man to continue and listened intently when Kabuto started to speak again.

"So instead of assassinating him, Orochimaru-sama wants you to bring him back here to Otogakure for… future purposes," he finished as he rolled up the scroll and tying a black string around it. "Do you accept your mission, Sasuke-kun?"

Sasuke's frown deepened as he heard that Orochimaru wanted the blond. What were the pale-faced Sannin's intensions if he accepted this mission and succeeded? Would Naruto be used as an experiment like so many others that Orochimaru has used? Somehow, the thought of seeing the blond in a huge test tube with many wires plugged in him churned the always-stoic man's stomach in an unknown feeling.

But then he realized… if he did accept this mission, not only he would get a chance to see the dobe - and compare how much he has changed - but he could talk to him as well, hearing Naruto's side of the story to see if what he had heard from his supposed mentor was true…

And as he accepted the mission and the scroll, he thought if it was worth it to talk to the blue-eyed blond when in the end, he would have to drag him back to Oto no Kuni for whatever reason Orochimaru might want from him. Though, as that train of thought passed by him, another came across through it: would Sasuke even obey Orochimaru's orders and willingly give the blond to the Sannin? After all, he had gained all the knowledge that he needed to learn from the Snake Sannin… and in truth if he did go against his wishes, Sasuke had nothing to lose…

Meanwhile, Kabuto watched the prodigy close the door and headed towards the shelf where his master had disappeared. He pulled out the same book, and entered the cold passage, walking down the path that was engraved in his mind. He stopped walking when he stood right in front of the door, and opened it to see Orochimaru sitting behind his desk with a satisfied look in his face.

"I presumed that he accepted it?" he asked even though he did not have to by the way Kabuto entered his office with a discreet triumphant look in his eyes.

Kabuto nodded and took a seat in front of the desk. He gave a slightly confused gaze at the still-satisfied look his master had. "Although, Orochimaru-sama, I must say… are you positive that it would be wise for Sasuke-kun to see the blond brat once again? Who knows what could happen…"

Giving a sly smirk, Orochimaru stood up from his seat and walked towards the window, looking at his country. He knew about the fragile yet strong relationship both his and Jiraiya's charges have and possibly out of every single people the Uchiha has met, Naruto was the only person who would Sasuke listen to willingly. The golden-eyed man also knew that he was taking a huge risk of sending his apprentice to see the meddling brat, after all, Kabuto was right. Who knows what could happen? There was always a chance of the blond putting some sense into Sasuke's mind to leave under his rule, but it was a risk he was willing to take.

This time, Naruto's influence on the Uchiha could very well play into his plan…

"Do you doubt my motives, Kabuto?" Orochimaru watched the grey-haired man shake his head from the reflection of the window glass. "Everything would fall into place soon… you can make sure of it."

--

"Why did you let him?"

Naruto turned around to see the Godaime Kazekage standing behind him, with his arms crossed over and watching him with impassive eyes. Raising an eyebrow, he shrugged at the question and returned to gazing at the night sky, looking at the stars quietly.

He and his team had been staying in Sunagakure for two months now, under the supervision of the Sand Siblings. Surprisingly, for a pregnant person, Naruto rarely showed any attitudes of being moody although the cravings for odd food and morning sickness appeared. He was also showing now, a small bulge had replaced his abs which he unconsciously caresses when he was deep in thought.

Since they have been staying in Suna for two (almost three) months, Kyuubi had stopped concealing the baby's chakra (courtesy of Temari since she could not check the baby properly). When the bulge was shown, both Moegi and Konohamaru kept on placing their ears on Naruto's stomach to see if they could hear the baby from the inside, whilst Udon accompanying the blond's exercises every morning.

Much to Naruto's chagrin, Temari had forced him to give his students into the hands of Kankuro who now took care of the three genins' training regime. According to the Sand kunoichi, the training could in fact lead him to using his chakra, so just to make sure, she had told him to do menial tasks for the time being (like help Gaara with his paperwork and whatnot).

"I'm guessing you already knew, seeing as you've asked me that question," Naruto replied softly as he heard Gaara stand beside him by the balcony. He suspected that ever since Kyuubi had dropped the 'concealment', Gaara - and perhaps Temari - knew whom the other father was to the life that was growing inside him. The blond was not easily surprised, considering that it would only be a matter of time when the red-haired Kazekage would find out.

Even without the Shukaku inhabiting his friend, Naruto was sure that Gaara had inherited the demon's powers.

Gaara did not reply and only looked at the blond, who was still staring up in the sky. His question still lingered in the air and he didn't have to repeat it once more to him. He knew that Naruto was restless as well. Ever since Temari told the blond that Kankuro would be taking over in his students' training, the blue-eyed shinobi had done nothing but stay in Kazekage's office and while Gaara had no problems with his company, the green-eyed young man was a little unnerved with a quiet Naruto. He was used to Naruto chattering about basically whatever that comes into his mind and as much as Gaara loved the silence… he hated it when it was related to Naruto.

"You're not going to leave until I tell you, are you?"

"Hn."

Naruto sighed in little exasperation and finally looked into the green eyes of the once-Jinchuuriki. To tell the truth, he did not know how to answer the question, seeing as he did not know _why_ did he let _him_ take advantage of him in the first place. He knew it was not because he was lonely - in fact, far from it. He had friends who loved him and cared for him and he treated them as the family he never had, also with all the crazy things going on, he never had time looking for his significant other; it wasn't important.

Just as he was about to reply, Kankuro came out of the balcony, panting harshly as if he had a run a marathon. He looked at his brother and guest with a solemn look in his eyes. "Bad news: I've heard reports from Konoha… they're searching for Uzumaki," he said as he led them back inside the tower.

Naruto didn't seem surprised at the news. He knew the Old Hag would find out sooner or later about his predicament; it was not like he thought of Sakura as a blabbermouth, she just wanted to help. Nevertheless, he was a bit saddened at the thought of Sakura telling Tsunade that he was pregnant. He wanted to tell it himself, but he just didn't know how to handle it when the blonde Hokage took it in a negative way.

Frankly, his pregnancy was a proof of fraternization, willing or not.

When both Gaara and Naruto entered the Kazekage's office, Temari was sitting in one of the armchairs with a look of concern and disgruntlement on her face while Konohamaru, Udon and Moegi were sitting on a small sofa with looks of discomfort adorning their faces. Gaara took a seat behind the desk and gave his elder sister an inquired gaze.

Temari sighed and crossed her arms. "They've found out, Naruto… that's the only way they're searching for you and your students," she said as she stared at the blond male. "My guess is that Haruno - "

"I KNEW IT!" Konohamaru suddenly stood up and started pacing back and forth. "That stupid woman with a big forehead! She just couldn't keep her mouth shut - " he was cut off when a kunai whizzed pass by him out of nowhere and gulped. He turned around and saw Naruto looking at him with irritation clearly being said in his eyes. The genin mumbled out an apology and sat back down to his seat, letting Temari continue what she had to say.

The Sand kunoichi nodded at him gratefully and continued, "As I was saying, it seems that Haruno has told the Godaime Hokage about your pregnancy. I don't know if it was intentional or accidental, but she somehow told her. Luckily for you, I don't think it has been leaked out into the villagers' ears…" She stood up and copied Konohamaru and started pacing when Kankuro entered the room once again with a scroll in his hand. "It seems that their search has been going on for two months now, as surprising as that; but now they've turned their heads towards Sunagakure, asking if we had seen you.

"Thankfully, since Tsunade-sama has given you permission to leave for nine months, she can't instate you and your students as a missing-nin, however… with your current position, there would be consequences when you come back. Even with the Godaime at your side, the elders of Konoha would not take it lightly with you being pregnant," the blonde female finished, as she knelt in front of Naruto, clutching his hands and staring deeply into his eyes.

Admittedly, during the many weeks the Kyuubi-vessel had stayed with her and her siblings, Temari had grown soft towards Naruto and treated him like her own brother. She knew that their response would have to be delivered quickly, or else Tsunade would be suspicious. While still clutching unto Naruto's hands, she turned her gaze toward Gaara who had been quiet throughout the conversation.

"Well, Otouto? What should we do?" she asked him.

Gaara sighed and closed his eyes while leaning back towards his chair. He decided that there was no way they would hand over Naruto to Tsunade - after all, if the Konoha elders have learned about the blond's pregnancy, there would be so many commotions that would take place, may it be positive or not. But aside through it all, if Naruto was sent back, the Godaime Hokage could give him a much more thorough check up than what his sister gave (not that he doubted Temari's skills).

He turned to Kankuro and saw the scroll the Kabuki-faced man was holding. "Kankuro… what does that scroll say?" he inquired while watching his brother fumbled at the item, trying to open it.

"Wait, why do you have a scroll?" Temari stood up from her place and walked towards her brother, seeing the Leaf insignia of Konohagakure.

"They sent it just two hours ago by a bird courier," Kankuro grunted as he unrolled the scroll and read the contents, his eyes narrowing at every word he saw. "It says here… the team that was dispatched is coming in two or three days… to talk to you, Gaara." He looked up to see everyone - aside from Gaara and Naruto - with a tensed expression in their faces. "That's not all… the team they've sent out… we're going to have a problem."

"What do you mean, Kankuro?" Naruto finally spoke up and he rose from his seat and taking the scroll from him. Looking at the paper, a cold feeling dropped down his stomach. Usually, in scroll that the blond was holding didn't hold any information regarding to the team the Hokage had dispatched but seeing as Sunagakure was allied with the Fire Country, the Old Hag deemed it appropriate to write down the each of the names that were sent for the mission to retrieve him.

Giving a sardonic smile, the blue-eyed vessel gave the scroll to Gaara and watched the redhead as he skimmed through the scroll and noticing the green-eyes light up with interest. "Tsunade-baachan's dead serious in bringing me back… can you believe it? Hyuuga Neji, Nara Shikamaru, Hatake Kakashi, Aburame Shino, Haruno Sakura, Rock Lee and Jiraiya are a part of the team…" he trailed off as he hopped up carefully on the desk, ignoring Temari's disapproved mutter. "You don't have to do this for me, Gaara…"

"But I want to," the green-eyed Kazekage said as he opened a drawer and took out another scroll. Clearing the desk and handing the other unravelled scroll to Naruto, Gaara unrolled the one in his hand and placed it on the surface of the desk. Instead of writing on the paper, it was a map of the whole Wind Country. He motioned for his siblings and Naruto's students to come closer and asked, "Temari-neesan, do you remember the house further deep into our country?"

Temari closed her eyes and frowned thoughtfully, "You mean… the one where Uncle used to take us when we were little?" she asked softly, as she opened her eyes and stared at her younger brother also noticing that Kankuro became deep in thought all of a sudden. Her siblings and she have not spoken about their Uncle and the rest of their deceased family members for a very long time, so it was a delicate subject for them.

Seeing Gaara nod his head stiffly, the Sand kunoichi smiled and nodded her head at his question. "Do you mind if you escorted Uzumaki Naruto and his students in that house?" he asked, and leaned back towards his seat. "Kankuro and I will handle Hyuuga and the others… however, you will have to leave the break of dawn tomorrow…"

"What about the reason of my absence?"

Kankuro snorted and crossed his arms. "Baka," he smirked, ignoring the glare she sent him. "You have a genin team, remember? They know you're a Jounin instructor… but they have no idea who your students are. All Gaara and I have to say is that you're away on a mission with them or something, granted that they don't come barging in here like they own the place and ask where you ran off to…"

Gaara nodded in agreement; it would be bad if his sister's students came in all of a sudden (which most of the time they do for reasons unknown) even if there were guards present outside the doors or not. '_No matter…_' he thought. '_I'm just going to have to make sure that I inform them then…_'

"Don't worry, Temari-neesan, I will take care of informing your students in the morning. It's better if you start packing now and get some rest, you will have a long journey ahead of you," the Kazekage replied as he rose from his chair and walked around his desk. He offered a tiny smile towards Naruto and his students, who were gaping in awe that the red-haired Sand Nin they saw years ago, would actually give a small smile even if it were almost nonexistent.

The Sand kunoichi smiled at her brother's behaviour and hugged her siblings good night, ushering Naruto's students from the office and helping them pack in their rooms. Kankuro ruffled the blond's hair and clamped his hand on Gaara's shoulder, offering a nod of good luck towards the blue-eyed shinobi. A few minutes after Kankuro's departure, Naruto faced Gaara with a genuine smile on his mouth, which surprised both himself and Kyuubi. It had been a while since the smile has appeared.

"Gaara… thank you," he said sincerely, whilst wrapping his arms around the redhead's shoulders and giving him a tight hug. "You really didn't have to do this for us and yet you did… you do realize that…"

"It could turn into a war? Hardly," Gaara muttered as he reluctantly returned the hug he was given. "This situation of yours could not possibly impose as a turning point into a small war between the Konoha and Suna. Tsunade-sama may be the Legendary Sucker but she is not stupid enough to enforce a war just because we've been keeping you here all this time.

"She'd understand why you have come here and why Temari-neesan, Kankuro and I have decided to help you," he finished as he let go of the blond.

Naruto pulled away a mere few seconds later and offered Gaara another smile. "Nevertheless… thank you, Gaara. For everything." With that, he bid good night to the Kazekage and left the office in favour of returning to his room and starting to pack his stuff.

The once-Jinchuuriki stayed for a couple of minutes after Naruto left, just contemplating on what was going to happen in a few days after his elder sister had left with Uzumaki Naruto and his students. He sighed exasperatedly and left the room, turning off the lights as he slowly closed the door.

--

They have been searching for two months. Every country and every village (with the exception of Otogakure - after all, Naruto would _never_ think twice of passing through their borders with a team of _genin_) has been searched without giving away too much information. Normally if wouldn't take a long time to search for someone, but at the only kunoichi's insistence that they look thoroughly.

Also, after they've been to a village, the Godaime wanted a debriefing from every single person. In fact, if she wasn't the Hokage, Tsunade might have joined the team instead and searched every nook and cranny of the Ninja Nations herself.

"The sun's setting soon," Sakura heard somebody from behind and slowed down a little bit. It was surprising for her that she was quite ahead than the rest of her team when usually she flagged behind in every mission she had been. She just wanted to find the blond as soon as possible; ever since they had started their search, she could not help but feel that something was going to happen, and usually those feelings were near accurate.

From the corner of her eye, she could see Neji catching up with her with a troubled look on his face, no doubt worrying about Naruto. His head turned to face her and nodded slightly, indicating for her to stop. After taking a long drink from her water bottle and catching her breath, Sakura stood up straight and sat next to Shikamaru who had taken the liberty to lie down on the grass.

Watching with her green eyes, she saw Jiraiya and Kakashi talking in whispers off to the side whilst Neji and Shino left to get firewood and water for their camp. She smiled softly when her gaze caught Lee stretching and waved her hand, asking him to sit beside her.

"How are you feeling, Sakura-san?" Lee asked her while he took his water bottle out and offered it to her. The smile widened a centimetre and Sakura uncapped the water while giving it back to her boyfriend, making him drink the water instead.

Giving a chaste kiss on his cheek, she stood up again and walked towards the two older shinobi and gave them a questioning look, crossing her arms over her chest. "Jiraiya-sama… you mentioned that you and Naruto went to the Sand Village before coming back to Konoha… why didn't we search there first?" she asked, staring at the Sannin as he rubbed his temple and sighed.

Before they left from Konoha, Sakura was not entirely surprised that Neji and the others (excluding Lee) were a bit cross with her for not telling them what Naruto had told her. It was a serious matter after all, and she knew that all of Rookie Nine - and not to mention Gai's former students - would have helped the blue-eyed blond in some way. She was thankful - grateful even more so - that they had forgiven her (and Lee) for keeping the secret from them right before departing. They realized how it was not _her_ secret to tell, and how it was hard for her to not say anything, even if it was killing her inside.

"Knowing Naruto… he _already_ asked for help from the Kazekage. Tsunade, the weird old hag that she is - don't tell her I said that - wanted the brat to stay there for a while…" he frowned while restraining himself from ranting how ridiculous his former teammate was acting. "She said that _if_ we went there first, Naruto's first impulse is to leave Sunagakure and go to somewhere else…

"What I was seriously annoyed by is that how daft can she really be! The brat's matured… he hardly ever acts without thinking and I don't think he would have left Suna anyway without thinking about his students' welfare…" he finished grumbling and saw Neji and Shino walking back with sticks for the fire as well as two pails of water.

Sakura stifled a sigh - she had been doing that a lot lately - and walked back to Lee and Shikamaru, both who were now setting up their camp for the night. Fetching the pot from one of the bags they carried, she hanged it over the fire whilst pouring half a pail of water into the object. She heard her former sensei say something about checking the perimeter and started to lie out traps around the campsite.

Nudging Shikamaru quietly, she ordered him to cut the meat they had bought from the last village they visited and started to cut up the vegetables her self. Looking up she saw Neji sitting down and looked at the fire with his face fixed into a look of consideration, as if he was trying to understand something. Thanking Shikamaru when he gave her the cut up meat, Sakura poured it into the pot along with the vegetables and asked Lee to stir for her.

Wiping her hands with a used towel, she sat down beside Neji and stared at the fire with her green eyes. "A penny for your thoughts, Neji-san?" she asked as she watched Kakashi walking back towards them and started to bother Shikamaru who sauntered to his sleeping bag and lied down on it.

Right before they left in search for Naruto, Sakura received a confession from the white-eyed shinobi's girlfriend that she had seen Naruto and his students leave the gate and how the Kyuubi-vessel had made her promise not to tell the pink-haired female anything. Baffling enough for her, the green-eyed medic-nin just smiled and hugged TenTen, knowing how guilty the brunette felt for letting Naruto leave in such a condition.

Neji shrugged and continued to stare at the crinkling flames, fascinated at how the said flames danced wildly. "It was odd… I've seen Naruto before we left, but I didn't feel anything peculiar around him. My guess it was because…?" he trailed off his question and Sakura agreed quietly when she noticed the underlying meaning of his question. She watched the Hyuuga prodigy shake his head in exasperation and amusement and could not help but smile at that. Naruto would always be Naruto…

--

Itachi jumped quickly from tree to tree as he rushed by through the forest. He was alone right now, leaving Kisame back at the Akatsuki Hideout with Deidara and the others. He was sure that nobody had seen him leave the cave, but with the information they just heard from one of their spies, sooner or later the rest of them would find out that he left without saying anything.

He stopped at a riverbank and looked at his surroundings. He could see the sun rising up from the horizon - he had left just before the crack of dawn - and ignored the chilled breeze that passed by him. Narrowing his eyes at nothing in particular, he remembered the supposed news he heard the day before yesterday…

According to the spy, the vessel of the Kyuubi no Youko had once again left the Leaf Village for reasons unknown (although Itachi knew the real reason why he left) but he was not alone: three others - and they were genin, no less - to prep up for the Chuunin Exams. The Mangekyou Sharingan master knew it was a load of bullshit, considering the fact that the blond's condition was much more important than a petty exam.

He also realized that searching for the said blond _alone_ was considered suicidal since according to the spy, Konoha's best shinobi were sent to go looking for Naruto, but he did not care. It would have been wise if he brought Kisame along to his little trip and he would have… but he never told the shark-faced man his intentions once they find Uzumaki and despite the fact he had been partners with Kisame for more than a few years, he was still having troubles trusting the other missing-nin.

Shaking himself from an unusual, once-in-a-blue-moon stupor, Itachi gathered chakra to his feet and walked towards the water stream, entering the borders of Grass and Rain countries. He doubted Uzumaki would send his students this far from Konohagakure. '_Still… it wouldn't hurt to search…_' he mused, staring at his surroundings blankly before commencing on running again.

Sooner or later the prey must come out… and Itachi was sure to be there when that opportunity arises.

--

Something was not quite right.

Sakura frowned as she and the others entered the front gates of Sunagakure. She didn't really expect for Kankuro to be waiting for them at the gates, as if it was the most natural thing to do. He had his back leaning against the post with his arms crossed and a half-grin was etched on his face. The pink-haired female knew that the Godaime sent Gaara and his siblings a scroll indicating that they were headed to Sand Village but she thought that Temari would most likely be the person who would wait for them, not the puppeteer.

Tsunade's apprentice shared glances with Shikamaru who also thought of the same thing.

Kankuro walked away from the post and walked towards them, the grin still placed on his lips. Even though he could only see the surprised looks from Sakura and Shikamaru, he knew that the others were startled to see him waiting for them at the entrance gates. Giving a small nod, he motioned for them to follow him, hoping that they wouldn't notice how tense he was. And that was only an understatement.

Inside he was burning with anxiety, threatening to overwhelm him if things got too out of hand. He seriously now wished that Temari had switched places with him when he asked her before they left the village.

_-- Flashback --_

"_For the last time, Kankuro, NO!" Temari glared at her brother as she continued folding her clothes and placing them on the duffel bag she was going to bring._

_Just an hour after she had helped Naruto's students pack their belongings, Kankuro entered her room with a nervous look on his face, which surprised the kunoichi a bit. Kankuro always showed arrogance in his expressions and even if he was edgy he never showed it. She only raised her eyebrow in question and continued to rummage in her closet. But when she heard his question, the blonde quickly understood where his anxiousness was coming from._

'He does have the right to be nervous,_' she thought as she zipped her bag and placing it right beside her fan. They were playing a dangerous game, but she can't give Naruto back just like that. Who knows what could happen to him despite the fact that Konoha would be a safer place for him to stay in?_

"_Kankuro," Temari started as she gave him an acquiescent look. "I'm pretty sure that if you went with Naruto, you won't be able to help him take care of himself. Who knows how long we're going be able to stay there? So just suck it up and help Gaara distract them, ne?" _

_But no matter how much she tried to reassure her sibling, Temari wasn't so sure whom she was trying to encourage, Kankuro or herself._

_-- End Flashback --_

"A-Ano, Kankuro-san…? I was wondering where Temari-san is…" Kankuro was shook out of his stupor at the sound of Sakura trailing off, saying her thoughts aloud as the Kabuki-faced man lead them to the Kazekage Tower. He grunted quietly as he climbed up the steps slowly, not really answering the question.

He nodded at the two ANBU that were waiting in front of the main office while they opened the door and saw Gaara who was paying attention to his paperwork with his head down and eyes closed as he shuffled some papers. The puppeteer knew Gaara had felt their visitors even before they stepped foot into the village.

Taking a huge deep breath, Kankuro stepped forward and slightly bowed at his brother. "Kazekage-sama," he said, as he kept his head low. Now it was not the time to be casual.

He just hoped that everything would go smoothly as planned. '_Whatever the hell the plan is._'

--

"Ne, Temari-san, are we there yet?" Moegi asked from behind as she walked side by side with Naruto. Temari was ahead of them with Udon and Konohamaru right by her side, one of them carrying their sempai's bag.

The blonde kunoichi shook her head at the question and inclined her eyes to see if the other two were catching up to them. They were nearly there, which made Temari almost sigh in relief, but she was nervous for her brothers' sakes. By now Tsunade's 'search team' had already arrived Sunagakure and asking for Naruto's whereabouts. She knew Gaara would be fine, but what about Kankuro? Would he be able to handle the pressure that would come bombarding towards him?

Her thoughts were interrupted when she felt Naruto suddenly stopping and tensing. She cursed inwardly and abruptly turned around, seeing Naruto kneeling down and clutching his swelled abdomen tightly.

Moegi had a look of fear on her face and tried to support the blond. She looked up to see Temari putting a hand on her sempai's forehead and feeling his chakra fluctuations. For protection, Naruto had asked the Kyuubi once again to conceal the chakra of his child so the blonde kunoichi only felt the blond male's chakra, along with the strong - but faint - chakra of the nine-tailed fox demon.

'_That's odd…_' she thought as Temari ordered Konohamaru to get a water bottle from one of the pouches of Naruto's bag that she packed. '_I may not be a great Medic-nin like Tsunade, hell I'm not even a damn Medic-nin, but it seems nothing's wrong with his chakra…_' Her frown deepened as she continued to watch Naruto drink the liquids she gave him.

Naruto was in the middle of his second trimester, and so far he was fairing well; better than Temari expected. He had been doing his regular exercises, always made sure that his meals were eaten (even though he didn't feel like eating most of the time) and he had been getting a well deserve rest. Seeing him just collapsing out of nowhere was uncalled for, especially in the middle of nowhere.

_He had been going from village to village now and there were still no signs from Naruto, Sasuke realized as he frustratingly ran through the desserts of the Wind Country, ignoring the harsh sunlight and the lack of breeze around him. He went through three countries now - including the Fire Country - and so far he had not found the blond dobe and his students anywhere. _

_Sasuke figured that just because Naruto took his students out the village doesn't mean he would take them out of the country, but apparently he was wrong. He was surprised though; with the Akatsuki and his blasted brother around hunting for the Jinchuuriki, the Uchiha prodigy assumed that Naruto would not risk his students into meeting the organization if they somehow meet in a village._

_He slowed down slightly when he felt faint chakra signatures to the east. He frowned at the information, knowing that no one could possibly be in the middle of nowhere underneath the afternoon sunlight and just staying there like a few sitting ducks._

_But, as he felt the faint source, he knew that he could familiarize one of the signatures… Sasuke quickly changed his course and started running towards the east. He had a hunch, and usually… these hunches of his were right._

_Kyuubi… what's going on?_ Naruto asked the demon as he continued to clutch the bulge that was situated in the middle of his body. It was weird, even though he should have a feeling of pain inside of him; he was feeling something entirely different.

He continued to drink the water that Temari had given him and waited impatiently for the fox's response.

_**My guess is that your child was feeling something that neither you nor I could feel it. Hell, I don't even think your comrades could sense it.**_ Naruto heard Kyuubi reply as he felt the tense reaction the fox was having.

Now that he mentioned it… he turned to his left and stood up, ignoring the surprised and concerned looks he received from his companions and started walking. It seems that the Kyuubi was right and his unborn child felt something that not even he and/or the others could sense it. Not only he could sense it now, but also he _knew_, he definitely knew who the owner of the chakra was.

It had been too long… too damn long. The blond was sure he would take this chance; so sure that he did not even realize that he was five months pregnant but luckily someone did comprehend his situation.

_**Naruto… are you sure about this?**_

_Yes… I'm sure…_

Kyuubi frowned at his vessel. Surely he was thinking this thoroughly. If not… not only Naruto was endanger, but the child as well. _**BRAT! **_He roared, as he restlessly fluttered his tails inside the restricted cage. _**Think about this, even for just a minute!**_

But all he Naruto could do was pay no heed towards Kyuubi's words of advice and continued walking.

_Sasuke was close, as he continued to run. He was a few miles away from the distinguished chakra signature that he hadn't felt in a very long time. He knew he could boost his chakra to make his speed a little faster, but there were other shinobi there and he was sure he had to be in top shape if there was a sudden battle that was to happen._

'Almost there…_' he thought._

Naruto didn't even realize he started jogging until he heard Temari scream at him in disapproval. The feeling was getting stronger, and he was positive that now even Temari and his students could feel the chakra.

'_Almost there…_' he thought as he ran a little faster.

_By now the Uchiha could see figures from far away. He knew there weren't illusions. _

When Naruto saw an outline from the distance, the blue-eyed vessel was sure he wasn't hallucinating.

--

Underneath the scorching hot sun, there were two figures standing right across from each other. There was no one else to see them meet - except for one of the figure's companions who were shocked at the scene they were seeing, but the two disregarded their attention.

All they could see was the sight of each other.

One of the figures had a sunny, yellow blond hair and deep blue eyes. He had whisker marks on both sides of his tanned cheeks and despite the fact that he was wearing dark clothing and had an unusual bulge by his abdomen, the prodigy knew there was only one person who would give him a look with pure innocence in his eyes.

The other figure had a dark, ebony hair and mesmerizing dark eyes. He had a pale skin, and despite the fact that he had not changed all that much, the dunce knew there was only one person who could piss him off with a blank, yet intense look in his eyes.

'_Naruto…_'

'_Sasuke…_'

_The reason there isn't a day  
__When I remember you  
__Is because I haven't forgotten you for a moment  
_-- Hanabi ; Hamasaki Ayumi

**Tsuzuku**

* * *

**Next Chapter: **N/A

* * *

**Crystal:** Okay, so how many people figured that the two people were Sasuke and Naruto? -goes on her tippy-toes to count the raises of hands- And as for the lyrics... umm, I couldn't help myself... -laughs and puts her hands behind her head- It was an exact fit though, ne?

Anyway, as for the 'Not Available' sign on the 'Next Chapter' section... my reason for this is that I'm not going to be updating until the start of November. Why? Well, first of all, all my thoughts and notes (yes, I have notes...) for this fic are all jumbled up (thanks to my loitering plot bunnies) and so I need to regroup a bit. I don't know whether I should put up another Interlude after this one or continue the Sasuke/Naruto confrontation. Also, I would like to be a few chapters ahead so that all I need to do is to send the chapter(s) to my beta and post.

Aside from that, I hope everybody understands! The reason I'm doing this is because I love this fic too much to be all screwed up and I'm kind of a perfectionist so... -shrugs and smiles sheepishly-

Can you all do me an itsy-bitsy favour though? Can you guys help me make it to the two-hundred review count, starting right now? -unleashes the puppy dog eyes- After all, who knows? Maybe with your reviews I could reorganize my thoughts (and notes) faster... -winks and laughs-

Until the next update!


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